Ahead of the Grammys this weekend, best new artist nominee Anitta is back for part two of her Billboard interview, sharing more of the backstory along with her plans for the next phase of her career.
“I really wanted this because I heard so many times that it was impossible, and I wanted to prove that it was not, someone can do this,” Anitta says of the days she spent hustling in her native Brazil to make her career happen. When she was faced with the argument that Brazilians couldn’t cross over in the States, she says she simply “could not accept it.”
She tracks her hustling days, recalling the era when she’d perform in Brazil on Friday, Saturday and Sunday then fly to the States to network during the week, before flying back to Brazil to play shows on the weekend, all while taking English lessons and doing studio sessions in English to get used to recording in the language. “It was crazy,” she says, adding that she was “so tired.”
But of course, the work paid off, with Anitta crossing over in the States, particularly upon the release of her 2022 album, Versions of Me, and its big single “Envolver.” Of this success, Anitta says fans in her home country “are super happy and very supportive of me, whenever ‘Envolver’ was starting to get really really big on the charts out of Brazil, the Brazilians, they saw it and were like, ‘If you love your nation, you’ve gotta play this song.’ … When it was No. 1 global, it was a holiday.”
Anitta also reveals that she “for sure, definitely” will end her singing career in the next five or six years, saying that she loves “change, challenges and trying news things” and is eager to develop her acting career. (She notes that she’s already been invited to appear in a number of films.)
Given her penchant for both hustle and success, money is on Anitta achieving anything she sets out to get. Watch the complete interview above, and tune in to the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS to see if Anitta wins for best new artist.