Larissa de Macedo Machado (born 30 March 1993) known professionally as 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 Furacao 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. 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's music is generally pop, but she also incorporates R&B, dance-pop, electropop, electronic dance music, reggae, reggaeton, funk carioca, samba-reggae, latin pop, and bossa nova.