Vai Malandra
"Vai Malandra" (transl. "Go Sassy Girl"[3]) is a song by Brazilian singer Anitta with fellow Brazilian singer Zaac and American rapper Maejor. The song features Brazilian producers Tropkillaz and DJ Yuri Martins.[1] It was released as a single on December 18, 2017 and as the conclusion to Anitta's Check Mate project, where she releases a new song each month.[4][5]
"Vai Malandra"
- Portuguese
- English
December 18, 2017[1]
2017
3:21
- Isaac Daniel Júnior
- Larissa Machado
- Brandon Green
- Tropkillaz
- DJ Yuri Martins
Background[edit]
In 2011, funk carioca producer Batutinha invited Anitta for an audition after he saw one of her videos singing. After being approved, she signed with Furacão 2000, one of the biggest producing companies of funk carioca in Brazil. In the same year, he released his first song on radio stations in Rio de Janeiro – the promotional single "Eu Vou Ficar". In early 2012, she created the "quadradinho" choreography, which was very successful among funk groups. In June 2012, producer Kamilla Fialho, after watching a performance on stage by Anitta, offered to be her manager, paying a fee of 256,000 reais required to release the singer from her contract with Furacão 2000, later signing her to Kamilas's company K2L.[6] In January 2013, after the success of the song "Meiga e Abusada" in Rio de Janeiro, Anitta signed a recording contract with Warner Music Group.[7][8] Following that, Anitta began her career as a pop star in Brazil; however, she continued to incorporate funk carioca's elements on her next releases.[9][10]
In August 2017, Anitta was seen shooting a music video for an unspecified track in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The song was later announced to be titled "Vai Malandra", a collaboration with Zaac, Maejor, DJ Yuri Martins and Tropkillaz; however no release date was given at that time.[11]
In the following days, Anitta announced a project entitled Check Mate, which consists of the release of a new song in English, Spanish or Portuguese along with its accompanying music video.[12][2] She launched the project with the premiere of Poo Bear-produced "Will I See You", which became her first single in English as a main artist.[12] By October, she had ventured into EDM by releasing the single "Is That for Me", a collaboration with Swedish DJ Alesso.[13] For the November Check Mate release, Anitta collaborated with Colombian singer J Balvin on the Latin pop single "Downtown".[14] Anitta later announced that "Vai Malandra" would be the "checkmate" move and conclude her Check Mate project.[15][2]
Recording and composition[edit]
An earlier draft of "Vai Malandra" was initially written by Zaac and presented to Anitta in 2017. She loved the track and decided to add her own part; the duo were joined in the studio by producer DJ Yuri Martins. Immediately after the three of them finished an initial version of the lyrics, they began working on a demo for the song. Anitta later suggested the inclusion of a few new elements from genres such as hip hop and trap music to the song, to this end inviting producer duo Tropkillaz and American rapper Maejor to work with them on the track.[2] According to Anitta, her decision to include such elements was to extend the song's "expiration date".[15] Despite its title in Portuguese and being sung primarily in that language, the song also features rap verses performed in English by Maejor.[15]
Release[edit]
The song was officially released worldwide to online retailers and streaming services on December 18, 2017.[1][15] "Vai Malandra" received more than one million plays on Spotify on its first day of release and broke the record for the most streams received in a day in Brazil – held previously by Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do".[16][17] On its second day of release, the song was played more than two million times, surpassing the record for the most streamed song in a day in Brazil. Due to the amount of streams received on its first days of release, the song debuted on the Global Top 50 chart in Spotify and became the first song in Portuguese to hit the top 20 on that chart on December 20, 2017.[18] Anitta also became the first Brazilian to chart two songs simultaneously on the Global Top 50 chart with "Vai Malandra" and her previous single "Downtown".[18][17][16]