Anitta (singer)
Larissa de Macedo Machado (born 30 March 1993),[2] known professionally as Anitta (Portuguese: [ɐˈnitɐ] ⓘ), is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and occasional television host. She has received numerous accolades, including four Latin American Music Awards and eight Latin Grammy Award nominations. She has won eight MTV Europe Music Awards and was the first Brazilian artist to be named Best Latin American Act.[3][4][5]
For the Austrian singer, see Anita (singer).
Anitta
Shortly after the release of her debut single, "Meiga e Abusada" (2012), Anitta signed a recording contract with Warner Music Brazil in January 2013. She released her self-titled debut album in July 2013, which produced four hit singles, and was certified platinum.[3] Her second studio album, Ritmo Perfeito (2014), achieved commercial success in Lusophone countries,[6] and was released the same day as her first live album, Meu Lugar.[6][7]
Anitta released her third studio album, Bang, in 2015. It was certified platinum and spawned four successful singles: "Deixa Ele Sofrer”, the title track "Bang”, Essa Mina é Louca”, and "Cravo e Canela”. The album cemented Anitta’s standing as a major star on the Brazilian and Portuguese record charts. In 2017, Anitta released her first fully Spanish song, which accelerated her crossover to Spanish-language Latin and reggaetón genres despite its Portuguese title, "Paradinha”. Later, she received critical acclaim for her trilingual fourth studio-visual album, Kisses (2019), which earned her a nomination for the Latin Grammy Award for Best Urban Music Album.
Her fifth studio album, Versions of Me (2022), contained the pre-released lead single, "Envolver”, which topped Spotify's Global Top 50 chart, a first for a Brazilian or Latin American solo artist.[8] "Envolver" peaked at number one on Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart and number two on Billboard Global, making Anitta the first Brazilian artist to lead a global music chart.[9]
[10] In 2022, Anitta became the first Brazilian artist to win a MTV Video Music Awards category and an American Music Award.[11][12] Anitta received her first major Grammy nomination, for Best New Artist, at the 2023 Grammy Awards.[13][14]
Early life[edit]
Anitta was born and raised in Honório Gurgel, a Rio de Janeiro neighborhood with one of the lowest HDIs.[5][15] She was the youngest daughter of Míriam Macedo and Mauro Machado, who divorced, with her mother getting custody.[16][17][18] Her brother, Renan Machado, is one of her music producers and jointly manages her career.
She began her singing when she was 8, joining the choir of Saint Luzia’s Parish in her neighborhood at her maternal grandparents’ insistence.[5] She took her first English classes at 11, having demonstrated above-average intelligence and an interest in an academic career. Her mother’s teacher later gave her free dance lessons.
After graduating from Colégio Pedro II, she finished a technical course in public administration in high school.[15][19] In 2013, she decided to pursue her artistic career and won the "Best New Artist" award given by the Associação Paulista de Críticos de Arte, an organization based in São Paulo, Brazil, that honors the best in the Brazilian arts.[20]
Anitta's stage name was inspired by the character “Anita” in the book Presença de Anita, adapted as a teleseries by TV Globo in 2001.[5] She thought the character "amazing" because "[Anita] could be sexy without looking vulgar; girl and woman at the same time".[5][10]
Anitta is a polyglot. In addition to her native language, Portuguese, she speaks English and Spanish fluently.[21][22] She also has an advanced level of Italian and an intermediate level of French.[23][24][25] Furthermore, she has taken Japanese classes and plans to learn Korean.[26][27][28]
Career[edit]
2012–2013: Debut album and initial success[edit]
Anitta's career as a professional singer started in 2010, when she was introduced to the
funk carioca producer Renato Azevedo (known as Batutinha). She was invited to record some demo tapes for him, as he had seen some of her home videos on YouTube. She then signed a contract with the independent and specialized label in funk, Furacão 2000. Some time latter, she released her first single "Eu Vou Ficar", which was played on local radio stations in Rio de Janeiro and the song was included on the series "Armagedom", which included other artists from the musical niche. Advised by her producer, she decided to put another "t" in the stage name and the acronym MC.[15][29] A year later, the song "Fica Só Olhando" was included on the second version of the collection.[30]
Her first televised appearance was on 16 May 2012, on TV program Cante se Puder, on SBT, where she sang the single "Extravasa", a song recorded by axé music singer, Claudia Leitte, inside a beer cup.[31] In June 2012, she chose to not renew the Furacão 2000 contract and signed with K2L Entertainment office.[32]
In January 2013, Anitta signed a recording contract with Warner Music Brasil and released the single Meiga e Abusada.[15][29] The song was then added to the telenovela Amor à Vida's soundtrack and became one of the most requested songs in Brazilian radio stations in early 2013. A music video for the song was shot in Las Vegas, and directed by American director Blake Farber.[29] The song was chosen as lead single of her self-titled debut album was released in June 2013.[33]
In June 2013, the music video for "Show das Poderosas" became the most watched music video on YouTube in Brazil, surpassing 160 million views in less than a week after the release.The impact also helped to music on charts, which remained for weeks at the top of the best selling in iTunes Brazil, and making it the third most played song on the radio in the country during 2013.[18] At the time, with that, the singer's fee per presentation increased to US$10.000.[33]
Personal life[edit]
Anitta is bisexual and identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community.[455][456] She dated Mr. Thug, the lead vocalist of Bonde da Stronda, from early 2011 until the end of 2012.[457][458][459] The singer also had a relationship with her dancer Ohana Lefundes,[460] with the doctor Pamela Tosatti[460] and with the actor and model Pablo Morais.[461] On November 17, 2017, she married businessman Thiago Magalhães, with whom she had been in contact since May of the same year. The couple married under separation of property.[462][463][464][465][466] They announced their divorce in September 2018.[467] She has had brief relationships with Pedro Scooby,[468][469] Gabriel David,[470][471] television host Gui Araújo,[472][473][474] and Canadian record producer Murda Beatz.[475] Maluma stated in an interview that he and Anitta had a romance and loved each other very much, but because they were in the same career, the relationship didn't move forward. "[...] It doesn't work for me to be in relationships with people from the industry. When it happened, with Anitta actually, she was just starting her (international) career. I met her and we really liked each other and all that. I thought to myself: 'I can't be with her, because she does the same thing as me.' [...]".[476] In July 2023, the Italian actor Simone Susinna appeared alongside the singer in Europe, confirming their romantic relationship.[477][478][479]
In an interview for Trip magazine in 2017, she stated that if she did not pursue her artistic career, she would "be a happy psychologist".[480]
In January 2019, after watching the documentary Cowspiracy (2014), she started transitioning to veganism.[481] but in May 2019, she said was not vegan anymore.[482] PETA named her one of the Most Beautiful Vegan Celebrities of 2022, along with singer/songwriter Lenny Kravitz.[483]