Bang (Anitta album)

Background

Soon after the release of the latest single from the album Ritmo Perfeito, "No Meu Talento", Anitta confirmed she was working on new songs for the follow-up. The styles of the songs were kept secret until "Deixa Ele Sofrer", the first single off the album, because official sneak peeks weren't available. Excerpts of some songs as "Me Leva a Sério" had leaked onto the Internet in mid-June. In September, the singer talked about her new album: "I am very focused on my album, a new Anitta is coming and I'll change my outfits", also commenting on her dream of having an international career and the possibility of realizing it in the following year.

Cover art

The cover of the album was made by Brazilian artist Giovanni Bianco. The image shows the singer in a black and white photo, but with colorful details, her tongue out and a pair of sunglasses with her name written on it. According to Bianco, the singer gave her "a very precious briefing: 'I want and I need to appeal to the kids and the adults. My fans are all ages. I want something fun, happy, pop', and that was my total inspiration". According to Anitta, it was the first time she had the courage to leave the whole process under the responsibility of another person. "I asked him to make an art that showed strength. He did it with the 'bang', but it was supposed to be temporary. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to compose a song with that title" she said. For Gabriel Justo of Capricho magazine, the cover reminiscent of the single "Bang Bang" (2014), by singers Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, and the detail of the name "Anitta" written in the glasses reminded us of the album cover Unapologetic (2012), by singer Rihanna. A few hours after the release of the cover, it became a meme between fans and celebrities, who posted photos on social media imitating the pose of the singer on the cover.

Release and promotion

Anitta released excerpts of lyrics from the album through the site "descubrabang.com" in random order and without the songs' titles. On October 9, 2015, four days before the official release, the album was made available for download on a Chinese site. The original link was soon taken down, but, due to the rapid spread the album was hosted on dozens of other sites to download.

Critical reception

Bang received positive reviews from music critics. Luís Lima, of Veja magazine, said in a report that "Bang is sonorously more daring and experimental than the previous two - Anitta (2013) and Ritmo Perfeito (2014). But the three have one feature in common: most of the lyrics address themes related to female love and empowerment." Rodrigo Ortega and Braulio Lorentz of the G1 portal said that "overall, Bang looks precisely at pop, although he misses the target so often. When he hits it, it's there to kill." Mauro Ferreira, from Nitas Musicais, said Bang is Anitta's best album and was superior to his two previously released albums. He classified the title track together with the songs "Gosto Assim", "Deixa a Onda Te Levar" and "Me Leva a Serio" as the best of the CD, plus the negative "Parei" and "Pode Chegar" The target with its trivial hits and more of it. She also finished: "Bang!" Is a pre-conceived disc in a marketing room. Its revenue includes calculated doses of this strategic marketing that has positioned Anitta as the most commercially powerful singer in Brazil today."

Marcelo Rodrigues of the Supertenimento website said: "Whoever believed that it would be just one of those momentary successes, was deceived because she has just released her newest work, Bang shows a maturation of the singer in comparisons to her first two albums, the tracks are well More worked, the chewing gum songs were losing space and the addition of new instruments in some bands can bring a new air to the scenario where Anitta is inserted. He even completed saying that the romantic "Cravo e Canela" and "Me Leva a Serio", can be the most beautiful tracks on the album, but he rejected the "Pode Chegar" track with Borel's participation, calling it "the weakest From the album". For Gabriel Vaquer of Arautu Online newspaper, the album shows that Anitta arrived at its maturity as a pop artist, and that she has matured as an artist and as a performer. Finalizing by saying that the singer; "It is by far the most creative popular artist today," and "definitely become the main name of Brazilian pop today." Tate Montenegro of the Territory of Music gave the album 3 stars, praised saying that Bang is a step that can lead Anitta to reach new horizons. Silvestre Mendes of Botequim's Pop website said, "Unlike previous studio projects, Bang had a more surgical finish. Each track has its identity, not to be confused with the songs heard previously, and that's a very positive balance." He highlighted the tracks "Cravo e Canela" by calling "love hit", "Essa Mina é Louca", classifying it as "very funny", "Gosto Assim", "massive hit" Had "[glued] his face and made me hear it about five times". She added that "it's confirmation that Anitta did not come to own a single hit, but several times in a row." The new album opens up pretty good doors for the style the singer has been embracing.

Singles

Four singles were released from the album. "Deixa Ele Sofrer", released on July 16, 2015 as digital download. The track reached the top ten on the Billboard Brasil Hot 100, peaking at number seven. The title track of the album, "Bang" was released on October 9, 2015.

Commercial performance

In her native Brazil, Bang debuted at number three on the ABPD Top 20 chart, selling 40,000 copies in its first week. As of May 2016, the album had sold over 300,000 copies in Brazil.