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BIA

The US rapper BIA was born Bianca Landrau in 1991 in Medford, Massachusetts. She is of Puerto Rican origin and from a very young age had harboured dreams of becoming a rap star. After being discovered on YouTube by the rapper Nathaniel Johnson - better known as Fam-Lay - she subsequently appeared in the TV reality show 'Sisterhood of Hip Hop'. Landrau was then introduced to the producer Pharrell Williams who invited her to appear on J. Balvin's 2016 single 'Safari' which went on to be certified multi-platinum and helped launch Landrau's rap career. In 2019 she was featured on Russell Vitale's single 'Best on Earth'; a track which featured a reference to the singer Rihanna. After hearing the track, Rihanna liked what she heard, posted a short video of herself on Instagram which featured the single playing in the background and stated 'Best on Earth' was her "new favourite song". The Instagram post was viewed 17 million times and considerably boosted audience awareness of both Vitale and Landrau.