Larissa de Macedo Machado (born 30 March 1993), known by her stage name Anitta, is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. She began singing at age 8 in a choir from a Catholic church in the Honório Gurgel neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro. At the age of 16, she attended a technical school and was called to work at Vale. In 2010, after posting a video on YouTube, Renato Azevedo, then producer of the independent record company Furacão 2000, called her to sign a contract with the label. Due to the success of the song "Meiga e Abusada" in 2012, she signed a contract with Warner Music Brasil the following year. Anitta rose to national fame in 2013 after releasing the single "Show das Poderosas", which reached the top of the Brasil Hot 100 Airplay chart. Its music video has been viewed over 130 million times on YouTube. In July of the same year, she released her debut studio album which received a triple gold record certificate and platinum certification by ABPD. The album hit the mark of 170,000 copies sold, being also released in Portugal. Ritmo Perfeito (2014), her second studio album, sold 45,000 copies after a month of its release. On the same day she released her first live album, Meu Lugar. In November 2014, she performed at the Latin Grammy Award, becoming the youngest Brazilian singer to perform at the awards. In 2015, she released her third studio album entitled Bang, which was certified platinum and produced the singles "Deixa Ele Sofrer", "Bang", "Essa Mina é Louca" and "Cravo e Canela". In 2013, Anitta was the singer who most remained at the top of iTunes Brazil and was elected by the same as the Artist of the Year. She was also elected by the Associação Paulista de Críticos de Arte (APCA) as the revelation of the year in music in 2013. She is a five-time winner as the Best Brazilian Act on the MTV Europe Music Awards, and was the first Brazilian artist to win the Best Latin American Act award. In 2017, she was chosen by Billboard as the 15th most influential artist in the world in social networks, getting ahead of artists like Lady Gaga, Shakira and Rihanna. Anitta was born Larissa de Macedo Machado in Rio de Janeiro, the youngest daughter of Míriam Macedo and Mauro Machado; her brother Renan Machado serves as her artistic producer. Her mother raised the two children by herself. Her father is African-Brazilian, while her mother is a Brazilian of European descent. She began her career at 8 years old singing in the choir of Santa Luzia Church in Rio de Janeiro by the intervention of her maternal grandparents. At 11 years old, with the allowance she got, she decided to take English classes. She later received dance lessons provided by her mother's teacher. At 16, she finished a course in administration at a technical school in Rio de Janeiro. A year later, she decided to pursue an artistic career. That same year, she was the winner of the "Revelation of Music" award.