Can Brazilian singer Anitta be the new Shakira?

The Brazilian pop singer Anitta is as close to reaching her career goals as ever. She rose to fame in Brazil in 2013 when her single "Show das Poderosas" became a huge hit and was able to stay on top releasing many more successful singles. After three albums, Anitta is taking big steps in her career, making moves to break in the international market.

She knew she was ready to move in that direction because she was already backed up by a gigantic fanbase in Brazil and had been noticed internationally a couple of times, like when she became the first Brazilian to win the EMA Worldwide Act Latin America in 2015 and when the music video to her song "Bang" went viral globally (today the video has 325 million views). From there, she started to collaborate with singers from other countries, beginning with the Latin market. She was featured in a remix o J Balvin's "Ginza" and released a single with Colombian singer Maluma called "Sim ou Não", which later got a version in Spanish, "Si o No".

In 2017, while still making hits targeted to the Brazilian market, she release her first song in English "Switch", a collaboration with Australian Rapper Iggy Azalea. Since then, she has released a song in Portuguese and Spanish called "Paradinha", a collaboration with American duo Major Lazer and Brazilian singer Pabllo Vittar, "Sua Cara", worked with Grammy-winner producer and song writer Poo Bear in her song "Will I See You" and released the song "Is That For Me" with Swedish DJ Alesso.

With all that heavy investment in the international market, Anitta is trying to do what Shakira did going from a locally known Colombian singer to a worldwide superstar, not only relevant to the Spanish speaking global population. Anitta is trying to make it internationally with a risky and aggressive strategy, but from what I've been seeing throughout her career, nobody should bet against her.