Her mother raised the two children by herself. 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. Anitta's stage name was inspired by the character Anita, from Rede Globo TV series "Presença de Anita". She thought the character "amazing" because "[she] could be sexy without looking vulgar, girl and woman at the same times". In 2010, Anitta was invited by funk carioca producer Renato Azevedo (known as Batutinha) to perform some tests after he saw one of her videos singing. After being approved, she signed with independent recording label Furacão 2000. That same year she released her first song on radio stations in Rio de Janeiro, the promotional single "Eu Vou Ficar", which was included on the "Armagedom" DVD, released by Furacão 2000. Advised by her producer, she decided to put another "t" in the stage name. A year later, the song "Fica Só Olhando" was included on the second version of the DVD. Her first televised appearance was on May 16, 2012 on TV program "Cante se Puder", on SBT, where she sang "Exttravasa", a song by Claudia Leitte, inside a beer cup. In June 2012, Kamilla Fialho, after watching a performance on stage by Anitta, offered to be her manager, paying a fine of 256,000 reais required to release the singer from her contract with Furacão 2000, later signing her to Kamilas's company K2L. In early 2013, she created the "quadradinho" choreography, which was very successful among funk groups. In January 2013, due to the success of the song "Meiga e Abusada" in Rio de Janeiro, Anitta signed a recording contract with Warner Music Group. "Meiga e Abusada" became one of the most requested songs in Brazilian radio stations in early 2013. A music video for the song was recorded in Las Vegas, and directed by American director Blake Farber, who has worked with Beyoncé.