Happy Birthday, Anitta: 5 Songs to Know by the Brazilian Pop Princess
Parabéns! Feliz Aniversário! Today (March 30) is the birthday of Larissa de Macedo Machado, better known as Anitta, Brazilian pop princess, who turns 24 years old today.
While the good people of Brazil are renowned for their extremely passionate support of pop stars abroad with their retweets and their Twitter hashtags, we lovers of music stateside don't necessarily reciprocate the love for Brazil's native pop stars nearly as much as we should.
And so, consider this an opportunity to brush up on your Portuguese, slide into your thigh-high boots and formally acquaint yourselves with the singing-dancing-bang!-ing sensation known as Anitta.
1.) "Meiga e Abusada"
Anitta only arrived on the Brazilian scene about four years ago after being discovered by a DJ from uploading a cover on YouTube, but she quickly rocketed to superstardom ever since her synth-y 2013 debut single "Meiga e Abusada. The accompanying music video, partially shot in Las Vegas by Beyoncé's "Countdown" director Blake Farber, featured the rising starlet partying in a limo and sipping splashes alongside her besties. Do the math, and you'll realize she wasn't 21 yet — not quite the legal drinking age in America. Scandal!
2.) "Show das Poderosas"
"Meiga e Abusada" was a Brazilian hit, but it was her follow-up single, "Show das Poderosas," that made Anitta truly explode: the massive club banger became one of the most successful Brazilian songs of 2013, shooting to No. 1 and racking up over 100 million views on YouTube and steadily counting. The song's sheer success alone caused her debut self-titled album's release date to be bumped up from September to July of that year.
3.) "Blá Blá Blá"
In less than a year, the singer was already performing her first headlining Show das Poderosas Tour and following up her debut album with her more comparatively stripped-down sophomore album Ritmo Perfeito in 2014, kicking off with the sassy, unapologetic kiss-off "Blá Blá Blá." (No, not a Kesha cover.)
4.) "Bang"
Anitta came back with a — wait for it! — "Bang" the following year with the funky title track from her third studio album in 2015. The colorfully illustrated music video directed by Bruno Ilogti (who Fergie snagged for her Double Dutchess promo) and art directed by Madonna collaborator Giovanni Bianco went on to become the most viewed female Brazilian YouTube video. "I wanted a clip to pass on the message of strength, self-esteem and, at the same time, a new career step...I wanted it to be something that hit people from zero to one hundred years old," she said.
5.) "Sim Ou Não”
By 2016, Anitta set her sights beyond Brazil for international stardom with two major Colombian collaborations: a remix of J Balvin's huge hit "Ginza," and a turn with the reggaeton Pretty Boy Dirty Boy himself, Maluma. Together, the two gave us their best "Work" impression with "Sim Ou Não," twerking, kissing and flirting their way through a video together — and making everyone else incredibly jealous in the process.
To tie this all together, here's Anitta performing a whopping 8-minute greatest hits medley at the end of last year at Prêmio Multishow 2016, featuring all of the songs mentioned above and more.
All caught up and thirsty for more? Considering her nonstop streak of success since her debut, it's almost inevitable that Anitta will be back at it once again in 2017.
Oh, right, and one more thing: #AnittaComeToAmerica.