Sam Smith Has a New Collaboration Coming With Anitta: ‘We Connected Immediately’

Sam Smith may have declared that “I’m Not Here to Make Friends” — but that doesn’t mean they can’t work with rising Latin superstar Anitta.

In a new cover story on Anitta for Harper’s Bazaar, Smith confirmed that the pair are working on a new song together. “Anitta’s energy is amazing,” they said. “We connected immediately, and it just made the collaboration feel so special that there was genuine friendship there.” Smith went on to praise Anitta’s “clear vision” as an artist, while the outlet described the upcoming song as a “lusty duet” between the pair.

Commenting on her upcoming new music, Anitta added that she planned to use her crossover success in pop music to make songs that more directly represent her as a person. “I got big enough for people to pay attention to what I’m doing, so it’s a good moment for me to drop this album [that’s] finally something I believe and something I think, ‘OK, that is me,’ ” she said. “Now that I got this attention, I can really be myself.”

Anitta is not the only artist that Smith will be collaborating with. In a mysterious tweet last week, the “Unholy” singer teased an audio clip that simply stated the words “Sam and Madonna,” leaving fans to wonder what the pair of pop stars were planning something together.

Meanwhile, Anitta also opened up to Harper’s Bazaar about her goals following her recent split with Warner Music after tweeting that she would have “auctioned off her organs” to get out of her contract. “I want to build a whole strategy because I don’t want to leave that in my label’s hands,” she said of her forthcoming album, which will be released under her new deal with Republic Records. “All the others I was leaving at their hands. That’s why it didn’t go that well … But this I want to go massive. So I’m going to do it myself.”