With the 2023 Grammy quickly approaching, all eyes are on the ceremony’s biggest awards.
The best new artist category has always been a coveted Grammy award. Competition, as usual, is fierce. This year's slate of 10 nominees includes artists such as Domi & JD Beck, Latto, Måneskin, Molly Tuttle, Muni Long, Omar Apollo, Samara Joy, Tobe Nwigwe and Wet Leg.
Beloved Brazilian musician, Anitta, is also among the hopefuls. This past year, the singer — who has been a household name across Latin America for nearly a decade — shook up the U.S. music industry with her global chart-topper, “Evolver,” in 2022. The EDM and reggaeton crossbreed was on her fifth studio album, “Versions of Me,” and hit the No. 1 spot on Billboard's global chart, excluding the U.S., in 2022.
Curious to learn more about the talented nominee? We’re breaking down everything you need to know.
The Brazilian singer has a music career that spans a decade
Known to fans by her stage name Anitta, the singer was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 30, 1993, with a different, less mononymous moniker: Larissa de Macedo Machado, per NPR.
The artist has been building her music career in Brazil for the last decade, and she released her self-titled debut album in 2013.
In a Feb. 1 interview with Grammy.com, the singer spoke about launching a new era in her career as a worldwide brand saying, “In Brazil, I got the recognition before, but internationally, it’s amazing because I’ve just started a brand new career.”
'Versions of Me' is Anitta's 5th studio album and 1st Grammy nomination
In her interview with Grammy.com, the 29-year-old said she felt inspired to explore the “different versions of herself” while making the album.
“I wanted to show different types of music that I like singing,” she explained. “Like different versions of myself. I’m fascinated by people’s music — the different countries and cultures. I love traveling and getting to know the way people consume music, the way people create music. It’s really special when I can travel and get to know a new culture, sing, and get that feeling running through my blood.”
The "Versions of Me" album cover art nods at the literal versions of Anitta there have been in the over the years — including the surface level. The singer has been open about her plastic surgery procedures, telling Nylon she's had "hundreds."
She speaks multiple languages and sings in English, Spanish, and Portuguese for 'Versions of Me'
According to Anitta, Portuguese is her first language, and she mastered English when she was a child. Years later, the singer says she learned Spanish when her song “Show Das Poderosas” became popular in Madrid.
"I went to Spain to sing for a radio show, and I didn’t understand anything that people were telling me," she told Grammy.com. "So I decided to start learning Spanish, and I loved it. And I started singing (in that language)."
Anitta told NPR that she also learned Italian and French.
You might recall her wildly popular single 'Envolver' inspired a TikTok dance craze
In March 2022, Anitta’s dance moves for “Envolver” inspired TikTokers to take to dance floors, floor pools, and more.
Hashtags like #AnitaChallenge and #Envolver quickly went viral and set the social platform on fire as users attempted to replicate her hip-bumping moves in the music video for the single.
She set a Guinness World Record in 2022
In July 2022, Guinness World Records announced that the singer's massive success had landed her the No. 1 spot on Spotify in March 2022. The achievement made the singer the first solo Latin artist to claim the position in history. This pretty rad achievement earned the artist a spot on the Guinness World Record website.
According to the site, four months after “Envolver” debuted, the song had racked up 6.39 million streams worldwide.
You can find her on Forbes's '30 Under 30 In Music' list
Back in November, the American business magazine hailed the singer for her contributions to the Latin music market in the United States, citing her hit single “Envolver” and the 500 million Spotify streams it had achieved at the time.
Forbes put the singer up amongst the likes of renowned Latin artists like Becky G and Rauw Alejandro, describing her as a reason as to why Latin music was‘“predicted to generate over $1 billion in revenue in the United States in 2022.”
She co-hosted the 2022 Latin Grammys
Anitta teamed up with the following artists to host the 2022 Latin Grammys in November: Luis Fonsi, Laura Pausini and Thalia. The 29-year-old has also been nominated for a Latin Grammy eight times.
She says she refuses to 'get lost' in fame
During a May 2022 Q&A with Anitta for Interview magazine, Columbian rapper J Balvin spoke with the singer about her family and background.
"My dad is Black. My mom is Latin. And I was born and raised in the streets, in the ghetto," she said. "I used to wake up and see dead bodies at my door. Nowadays, even though I have the opportunity to have everything, I don’t care. I don’t even know how much money I have. If someone calls me asking for help, for donations, I say, ‘Take it.’”
“When we get fame, we can get lost in this game and forget who we are,” she added. “For me, it was never about getting famous and rich. It was about changing my people’s lives, my country’s life.”