![\"Anitta\"](\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/GettyImages-1677146683-1-e1725807167797.jpeg?resize=384%2C216\")
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Anitta<\/strong><\/a> could make history \u2013 again! The 31-year-old Rio de Janeiro native<\/a> became the first Brazilian performer to win an MTV Video Music Award in 2022, taking Best Latin for her track, \u201cEnvolver.\u201d Now, she is taking the VMAs stage again at New York\u2019s UBS Arena on September 11.<\/p>\n While Anitta isn\u2019t all that new \u2014 her 64 million Instagram<\/a> followers prove that she didn\u2019t pop up overnight \u2014 there are still those who aren\u2019t familiar with this Brazilian superstar. As fans tune in to watch this year\u2019s VMAs, we\u2019ve got a breakdown of Anitta\u2019s rise to stardom, here.<\/p>\n Born Larissa de Macedo Machado<\/strong> on March 30, 1993, the woman known as Anitta first gained commercial success with 2012\u2019s \u201cMeiga e Abusada.\u201d She signed a recording contract with Warner Music Brazil in 2013, the same year she released her self-titled debut album. She released the follow-up, Ritmo Perfeito<\/em>, in 2014 and her third studio album, Bang<\/em>, in 2015. While those first three ventures were commercially successful, she gained critical <\/em>acclaim with Kisses<\/em>, her trilingual fourth studio album. \u201cEnvolver\u201d comes from her fifth studio album, Versions of Me<\/em>, which arrived in 20222.<\/p>\n \u201cI will always need to carry my culture,\u201d she told Billboard<\/a> <\/em>in 2022. \u201cI could never just go to another market and do whatever. What would be the purpose: Fame? Money? I already had that, and that\u2019s not the point for me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBeing an international artist is not only about being famous wherever you go, because the world is so big,\u201d Anitta told Billboard<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s about being able to impact culturally different areas at the same time.\u201d In 2022, the Brazilian music market was the 11th largest in the world. However, with Portuguese being the primary language spoken there, it\u2019s hard for artists to have crossover appeal in Spanish-speaking Latin countries. She told Billboard <\/em>what her brother, Renan (with whom she co-manages her career with), that she wanted to try to have a career beyond Brazil\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n \u201c[He said] \u2018Why? You will need to start from the bottom and do the s**t you were doing six years ago. You don\u2019t even have the energy anymore.\u2019 And I told him that\u2019s what I wanted, although I was really scared,\u201d she told Billboard<\/em>. \u201cIt meant I would abandon everything I had done. I knew that if I failed, everyone in my country would laugh at me. That\u2019s what happens to everyone who tries and fails. I didn\u2019t want to become a joke. I wanted it to happen for real.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the gamble paid off. Versions of Me<\/em> is a success, and she\u2019s collaborated with some major stars like Becky G, Prince Royce<\/strong>, Diplo, Saweetie<\/strong>, and Snoop Dogg<\/strong>.<\/p>\n During a 2017 interview with Trip<\/em><\/a> magazine, Anitta said that she would have pursued a career as a psychologist if she wasn\u2019t in the music industry.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s crazy because as an artist \u2014 maybe because we don\u2019t want to feel insecure \u2014 my character is very powerful, this girl that does everything,\u201d she told J Balvin in a 2022 conversation for Interview<\/a> <\/em>magazine. \u201cBut most times I\u2019m very worried about everyone, caring about everyone, thinking about my family and making sure everyone is good. I\u2019m very private, so I don\u2019t let anyone know about that\u2014 it\u2019s kind of a secret. But I\u2019m actually very much the opposite of this powerful, invincible person that I sell as an artist.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever I suffered any damage as a teenager, I created this character inside of me that no one could ever play withm\u201d she added. \u201cShe was tough, but I was very insecure. It\u2019s part of me, this side that\u2019s very confident\u2014and I like that. But there\u2019s this other side that\u2019s the opposite, and it helps my career because then I don\u2019t forget about where I come from. What keeps me going with this character, with this whole industry, is that I care so much about everything. I\u2019m a very political person, and I use this character and industry to make the changes I want to see in the world.\u201d<\/p>\nAnitta Is A Brazilian Singer<\/h2>\n
![\"Anitta\"](\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/anitta_492e3d.jpg?quality=100&w=819&resize=819%2C1024\")
She Took a Risk By Going International<\/h2>\n
Anitta Would Have Been a Psychologist<\/h2>\n
There\u2019s A Difference Between Anitta and Larissa<\/h2>\n
She\u2019s Openly Bisexual<\/h2>\n