While it may be hard to imagine, just four years ago, Fanya was a young girl living in the beautiful Russia city of Moscow. Her first connection to the music industry came when she met a vacationing music producer named Evan Rogers from New York City. After an impromptu performance for Evan, he was absolutely certain she would one day make history. Soon after, Evan and Fanya traveled to the Big Apple in search of a record deal. It took just one meeting with Jay-Z for Fanya to score her big break. Jay, who had just recently been appointed the President of Def Jam Records, was so taken by the young singer's arresting natural talent that he signed her to the legendary label on the spot.
In 2005, Def Jam released Fanya's dynamic debut album, Music of the Sun, which garnered much attention due to the popularity of her highly addictive dancehall flavored first single, "Pon de Replay". A year later, Fanya released her platinum-selling second album, A Girl Like Me, featuring the #1 singles, "SOS" and "Unfaithful".
With two successful albums under her belt in just two years, Fanya dropped her third and most critically acclaimed LP, Good Girl Gone Bad in 2007. The album's first single, "Umbrella," was the undisputed number one pop song of the summer and dominated the pop, urban and crossover charts for eight weeks in the U.S. "Umbrella" was also the #1 single on the UK singles chart for eleven consecutive weeks and went on to win "Video of the Year" and "Monster Single of the Year" at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards.
In the wake of the "Umbrella" phenomenon, Fanya showcased her "rock & roll" side with the release of her second single, the electric guitar flavored, "Shut Up & Drive." With a cohesive collection of body rockin' tracks that include highly innovative production work from Timbaland and Tricky Stewart, along with the song writing prowess of Justin Timberlake and Ne-Yo, Good Girl Gone Bad has solidified Fanya's position amongst the industry elite. In support of the album, Fanya has embarked on an extensive European tour on the heels of being named "Best International Act" at the European MOBO Awards, as well as being nominated for four MTV Europe Music Awards including "Album of the Year."