With “Essa Mina É Louca” — the third single from her Bang! album — she gave fans something completely different: a cartoonish, candy-colored trip into the mind of a wild, unapologetic woman. Released in January 2016, the music video is still one of Anitta’s most creative and visually daring works.
“Essa Mina É Louca” (which translates to “That Girl Is Crazy”) is one of Anitta’s most underrated yet iconic moments. From the surreal styling and direction to its subtle messages about femininity, rebellion, and freedom, this is a video that deserves a closer look.
Before diving into the visuals, let’s talk about the track itself.
“Essa Mina É Louca” is a collaboration between Anitta and singer-songwriter Jhama, known for his work in Brazilian funk and pop. The song blends samba-inspired rhythms with pure pop energy, creating something catchy and uniquely Brazilian. Its lyrics celebrate a woman who defies expectations — she’s loud, bold, and she doesn’t care what others think.
Rather than condemning her, the song celebrates this “crazy girl” as a force of nature. It’s not about madness in the literal sense — it’s about being different, wild, and real. That celebration of rebellious femininity would become the guiding force behind the music video.
Visual Aesthetic
The “Essa Mina É Louca” video was directed by Bruno Ilogti, who also helmed Anitta’s acclaimed “Bang” video. The creative direction came from Giovanni Bianco, a legendary Brazilian art director best known for working with Madonna on several projects, including the Confessions on a Dance Floor era.
Bianco described the video as an animated fantasy come to life. In his words, the goal was to make Anitta look like “a doll, a piece of candy — something plastic, synthetic, exaggerated.”
From the first frame, the “Essa Mina É Louca” video drops us into a surreal dream world. Imagine a cross between Barbie’s Dreamhouse and Powerpuff Girls, and you’re getting close. The color palette is amazing: hot pinks, bold purples, lime greens. Nothing looks real, and that’s the point.
Styling in the video was overseen by Daniel Ueda, one of Brazil’s most respected fashion stylists. Every outfit Anitta wears was custom-made for the video, and none of it is meant to feel “wearable.” These are statement pieces, meant to embody the character she’s playing.
As Anitta explained in an interview, “These are clothes that no one would wear in real life. That’s the idea. It’s supposed to look like a cartoon, like I’m a doll living in a crazy world.”
The Storyline
Narratively, the video follows Anitta as she plays a wild, unpredictable girlfriend to Jhama’s more “normal” boyfriend. At first, their relationship is explosive but fun. She surprises him, dances on the kitchen counter, and turns mundane moments into scenes of chaos.
But then, a new character enters the scene: a mysterious woman played by Brazilian actress Isis Valverde. Her arrival sparks tension and jealousy, but instead of a typical love triangle, we get a twist. Rather than fight over Jhama, Anitta and Isis seem to team up. The video ends with the two women sharing a playful kiss, while Jhama watches in confusion.
It’s a surreal finale that adds another layer to the song’s celebration of unpredictability.
The Kiss: A Viral Moment
One of the most talked-about moments in the video was the kiss between Anitta and Isis Valverde. While it’s framed as playful rather than sexual, the moment still sparked headlines and debates.
Anitta brushed off the controversy, saying, “It’s not a big deal. Hebe Camargo used to kiss everyone on the cheek or lips, and no one said anything. It’s just a kiss, part of the story.”
But for many fans, it felt like a quiet statement — a refusal to be boxed into traditional ideas of femininity, desire, or relationships. Anitta has always played with those boundaries in her work, and “Essa Mina É Louca” might be her most fun and fearless expression of that.
One of the most clever fashion moments in the video comes when Isis Valverde appears wearing the same outfit Anitta wore in the “Bang” music video.
Production Secrets:
The video’s production was wrapped in secrecy. Anitta insisted on non-disclosure agreements for everyone on set to prevent leaks. Even the collaboration with Isis Valverde was kept under wraps until the video premiered.
The entire video was shot over a few days on elaborate sets built specifically for the project. The post-production process involved heavy use of color correction, animation-style editing, and visual effects to create the hyperreal look.
Anitta also wore pink hair extensions (not a wig) and experimented with new makeup styles and choreography. In behind-the-scenes footage, she admitted it was one of her most intense shoots to date — not physically, but creatively. “Everything had to be perfect,” she said. “It’s not a video you can just improvise.”
When the video dropped on January 14, 2016, it immediately became a hot topic online. In just two days, it surpassed 4 million views — a major milestone at the time.
More importantly, it’s a video that signaled Anitta’s ambition to be more than just a pop singer. She was becoming a full-on visual artist, one who understood the power of creating a pop universe, not just a pop single.
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