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Era Istrefi (; ; born 4 July 1994) is a Kosovo-Albanian singer. Born and raised in Pristina, she rose to international recognition with the breakthrough single "BonBon", which experienced commercial success worldwide and received various certifications. She later signed contracts with record labels Sony Music and Ultra Music. In 2018, Istrefi performed the official song for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, alongside Nicky Jam and Will Smith, at the closing ceremony of the grand final in Moscow. Her discography includes works in Albanian and English language, among others "Shumë Pis", "Redrum", "Nuk E Di" and "Live It Up". Istrefi has received a number of awards and nominations, including the European Border Breakers Award and Top Music Award.
In 2013, Istrefi made her debut in the Albanian-speaking world with the single "Mani Për Money", eventually releasing material sung in Gheg Albanian featuring English language phrases. A few months later, she released a follow-up recording, "A Po Don?", which was promoted with a music video; it similarly achieved recognition. Her third single "E Dehun" was filmed in a Serbian desecrated Orthodox church. Upon its release, "E Dehun" assured Istrefi three Videofest Awards, including one for "Best New Artist". In December 2014, the singer made the pop ballad "13", which was produced in the United States, available for consumption. Its accompanying music video was viewed almost 200,000 times within 24 hours on YouTube, which later resulted in it being featured in V Magazine. She received Albanian citizenship in 2016.
On 24 February 2017, Istrefi released a new single, entitled "Redrum", which features producer Terror Jr. Few months later, on 29 September, Istrefi released another new single, entitled "No I Love Yous", which is in collaboration with French Montana.
She has started 2018 with a new single "Origami" featuring South African DJ Maphorisa. On 21 May it was announced that Istrefi had joined with American actor and rapper Will Smith and American singer Nicky Jam to release the Official FIFA World Cup Song on 25 May. She performed the song, entitled "Live It Up", alongside Smith and Jam on 15 July at the closing ceremony in the World Cup Final. During the rest of the summer she dropped two more singles, entitled "Prisoner" and "Oh God", the latter featuring Konshens. She was featured on Steve Aoki's album Neon Future III and Jonas Blue's album Blue, both released on 19 November.
In 2019, Istrefi collaborated with Belgian duo Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike on her follow-up single "Selfish" which topped the Billboard Dance Club Airplay chart. Two months later, she worked with her sister and Albanian singer Nora Istrefi on the single "Nuk E Di" which marked the first time that both artists have collaborated musically on a recording. In the same year, she released "Sayonara детка" with Russian rapper Элджей and was featured along American rapper Offset on the single "Let's Get Married" by Dutch duo Yellow Claw.
| +Year award presented, name of the award ceremony, category, nominee(s) of the award, and the result of the nomination ! scope="col" style="width:4%;" | Year ! scope="col" style="width:50%;" | Event ! scope="col" style="width:30%;" | Category ! scope="col" style="width:50%;" | Nominated work ! scope="col" style="width:6%;" | Result |
| Best Styling | |||||
| Best Female | |||||
| Best New Artist | "Mani për money" | ||||
| Zhurma Show Awards | Best New Artist | "E dehun" | |||
| Internet Award | |||||
| Best Song | |||||
| Song of the Year | |||||
| "BonBon" | |||||
| Female Artist of the Year | "Herself" | ||||
| Avantgarde Artist | |||||
| Kult Awards | Song of the Year | "BonBon" | |||
| Big Apple Music Award | Hit of the Year | ||||
| Public Choice Award | |||||
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