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Jay Shetty Podcast

ANITTA: The Truth Behind Her #1 Hit... Those Were My Darkest Days

Today, let's welcome Grammy-nominated global superstar, Anitta, who opens up about her incredible journey from the favelas of Brazil to international stardom.

AnittaguestJay Shettyhost

Jun 3, 20241h 39mWatch on YouTube

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CHAPTERS

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Chapter summaries

From global #1 hit to sudden illness: success without happiness
Anitta opens by describing the peak of having a worldwide number-one song and the shock of getting sick soon after. She frames the emotional dilemma of being successful yet still unhappy, and how that removes external excuses.
- •Anitta describes being everywhere after a solo song reached number one globally
- •She says she became sick right after the success
- •She contrasts having “nothing” (and something to blame) with having everything and having to look inward for why you’re unhappy
How she prepares on show days now: presence, rituals, and energy exchange
Jay asks what a concert day looks like with a 9 PM show ahead. Anitta contrasts her old approach—rushing and chasing outcomes—with a newer focus on enjoying the day and showing up ready to exchange energy with the crowd.
- •Anitta says her approach has changed over the years
- •She used to cram many tasks in and focus on results and opportunities
- •Now she prioritizes meditation, mantras, massage, and getting into a good “vibe”
- •She describes going on stage as exchanging energy in the present moment
Her spiritual support system and dream-led “frequency” management
Anitta details the network of practitioners she works with and how her dreams guide her day. She explains how she notices low energy and immediately does practices to elevate it before performing.
- •Anitta lists the people she works with (including a shaman and a family constellation practitioner)
- •She describes a “radionic table” cleansing practice using crystals and stones
- •She recounts waking with intense excitement after a kundalini activation session
- •She says discipline means acting quickly when she feels her frequency drop
Discipline vs. victim mindset: reclaiming control of your emotional state
The conversation broadens into how people can reconnect to alignment rather than spiraling. Anitta emphasizes that simple practices can shift how you feel, and argues against staying in victimhood when you can strengthen your own energetic boundaries.
- •Jay compares reconnecting to alignment with restocking necessities like milk or bread
- •Anitta says low-frequency states can make you feel stuck and unmotivated
- •She describes simple physical-breath exercises her shaman gave her
- •She says others’ energy can’t reach you if you’re aligned and protecting your own “circle”
Comparison culture and social media: why it drives anxiety and self-betrayal
Anitta identifies comparison as a major force lowering people’s wellbeing today. She explains how social media encourages unfair comparisons and how that triggers anxiety as the mind tries to ‘solve’ the pain of feeling behind.
- •Anitta says the internet was meant to connect but often makes people judge and compare
- •She describes the trap of consuming others’ lives instead of asking what you truly want
- •She argues comparisons ignore unequal contexts like opportunity, prejudice, and upbringing
- •She likens comparing yourself to hurting your inner child like a parent comparing siblings
The #1 moment, the health scare, and the retreat that changed her priorities
Anitta describes working intensely to reach a global number one, then falling seriously ill with debilitating symptoms and alarming test results. She shares how meeting a shaman and attending a five-day retreat in nature started a major internal shift.
- •Anitta recounts being unable to do normal tasks and experiencing multiple symptoms
- •She says tests showed many cancer indicators while doctors still lacked clear answers
- •She describes her belief in ego vs. soul duality and an internal fight
- •She explains the shaman’s “Pregnancy Map” method and a five-day retreat without phones or power
Meeting her inner child: the darkest moment and a turning point in self-acceptance
Anitta shares a vivid inner experience during the retreat where she confronted a ‘dark energy’ that turned out to be her own rejection of herself. She describes reconciling with her inner child and learning to check in with that part of herself when anxiety or anger arises.
- •Anitta says she was writing self-criticisms based on what others said about her
- •She explains how audiences can mistake a singer’s public persona for the whole person
- •She describes feeling disgust and leaving the retreat thinking it was a waste of time
- •She recounts an inner-child vision where her younger self refused to shrink to please others
- •She says she now talks to and comforts her inner child to identify what’s wrong
When you have everything and still feel empty: meaning beyond approval and metrics
Anitta reflects on how professional praise can make accomplishments feel like identity, creating an emptiness she once tried to fill with success. She shares a message she gave a friend about how having everything removes the ability to blame external lack for unhappiness.
- •Anitta says constant congratulations can make you feel you need achievements to be somebody
- •She mentions watching a film called "Becoming Nobody" to reset her frequency
- •She says she once chased awards, streams, and algorithms to fill an emptiness
- •She tells a friend: when you have nothing you can blame lack; when you have it all, you must face yourself
- •She says results can’t fulfill what you can only do internally
Industry whiplash and letting go of status: staying happy even if the rankings drop
Anitta rejects the idea that fulfillment naturally comes from reaching the top and describes how the industry’s ‘hot or dead’ mindset fuels addiction to external validation. She explains why she wants to make choices that keep her happy even if popularity declines.
- •Anitta says many people keep needing more rather than finding meaning
- •She criticizes how streaming culture dismisses artists the moment numbers dip
- •She says success can become a drug when tied to approval
- •She frames real success as being happy even if you lose everything
- •She says she now makes music she feels like making regardless of plays
Emotional trauma becoming physical: endometriosis, healing, and inherited fear
Jay asks about health and hormones, and Anitta links physical symptoms to emotional trauma. She shares a story about inheriting a specific fear from her mother’s pregnancy and describes a striking coincidence that reinforced her belief in meaning beyond chance.
- •Anitta confirms her illness included endometriosis alongside other issues
- •She says after the retreat, alarming blood indicators resolved and she felt more in control
- •She describes feeling physical pain during family constellation sessions that later clears
- •She recounts a recurring fear of losing everything that her shaman said wasn’t hers
- •She connects the fear to her mother’s pregnancy stress when Anitta’s father lost his job
- •She describes her 30th birthday venue matching the address tied to that job loss
Purpose, spiritual sensitivity, and communicating with the universe
Anitta talks about purpose as cleaning inherited patterns and using life to understand why you’re here. She describes being spiritually sensitive since childhood, having dreams and visions, and frequently communicating intentions to the universe.
- •Anitta says healing inherited karmas is tied to finding purpose
- •She shares childhood stories of predicting details about her future
- •She says she often talks to the universe and writes what she wants
- •She mentions tracking eclipses and the moon as part of her rituals
- •She describes plant baths and indigenous-inspired approaches to energy and healing
Leaving birth control: hormones, stability, and shared responsibility
Jay asks about changes after stopping birth control, and Anitta describes why it felt unnatural for her body. She details physical and emotional side effects, the long recovery timeline, and her view that contraception responsibility shouldn’t fall solely on women.
- •Anitta says hormonal birth control didn’t feel natural and affected her strongly
- •She lists side effects including hair loss, skin issues, mood swings, depression, anger, and low energy near her period
- •She says it took more than a year to feel clean of side effects after stopping
- •She critiques the gender imbalance in contraception responsibility
- •She mentions a copper IUD worsening bleeding and endometriosis and says she now uses condoms
Two selves in one life: Larissa vs. Anitta, protection, and relationships
Anitta explains family constellation work and how it repeatedly reveals two representations of her—her public persona and her private self. She shares how trauma influenced the creation of her stage character and how that persona affected dating and intimacy.
- •Anitta explains the structure of family constellation sessions and how representatives embody family energies
- •She says in her sessions there are two versions of her: the confident ‘superhero’ and the insecure inner self
- •She describes losing balance when she only valued the public persona
- •She reveals being assaulted as a teenager and says it influenced creating a tougher persona
- •She says overplaying the persona sometimes pushed her away from relationships and kept her guarded
Dating double standards, religious backlash, and choosing values over followers
Anitta critiques societal expectations in relationships and describes why women face harsher judgment for dating outside perceived ‘status.’ She then explains why she honored Afro-Brazilian/Yoruba traditions in her work despite losing followers, and shares her view of religions as different paths to the same goal.
- •Anitta describes a double standard: successful men dating ‘regular’ partners are praised, women are judged
- •She says society’s expectations can sabotage good relationships and self-esteem
- •She says she expected backlash and follower loss for honoring native Brazilian religions
- •She explains her view that religions are like veins leading to the same heart—human evolution
- •She describes Yoruba/Candomblé beliefs in nature forces and rejects using ‘the devil’ as an excuse for human actions
- •She says she speaks up because fame should be used for something beyond selling products
Madonna in Copacabana, activism, career obstacles, and the ‘Final Five’ answers
Anitta reflects on performing with Madonna and what the event symbolized culturally. She then walks through early career barriers tied to prejudice against her origins and genre, discusses industry and business frustrations, and closes with rapid-fire final questions about advice, journaling, help, dating, and wealth limits.
- •Anitta describes the Madonna Copacabana concert and its meaning amid conservative criticism
- •She says Madonna fought for LGBTQ acceptance and women’s freedom, which she values
- •Anitta says she focuses activism on indigenous causes and protecting the Amazon because nature has no voice
- •She recounts early prejudice against funk and being self-managed with her brother negotiating directly
- •She describes pushing into Spanish/English markets despite skepticism about Brazilian Portuguese barriers
- •She says she released a hard-to-place Brazilian funk album after detaching from fear while sick
- •She explains touring stress and her hotel cleansing rituals and reliance on spiritual support
- •In the ‘Final Five,’ she says she controls her reactions, dislikes ‘never give up,’ journals daily, avoids unsolicited help, and would cap personal wealth and redirect excess to nature or social good

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