Early life
Mýa was born and raised in Prince George's County, Maryland, a largely-suburban county near Washington, D.C.. She also has two younger brothers named Chaz and Nigel. Her mother is Italian American and her father is African American. Mýa studied both singing and tap, at one point taking lessons in New York City from Savion Glover. As a teenager, she appeared as a dancer on BET's Teen Summit talk show. Mýa taught dance for several years before and after she became famous. She attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland, where she graduated at age sixteen. Mýa was a cheerleader in high school and, was voted prom queen to top it all off.
Mya
In 1997, Mýa signed a recording contract with Haqq Islam's University Records, after being brought to the label by her friends an R&B group Dru Hill. The four members of the group, Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin, Mark "Sisqó" Andrews, Larry "Jazz" Anthony', and James "Woody" Green, wrote and produced half of Mýa eponymous debut album, Mýa. The first two singles, "It's All About Me" and "Movin' On", were co-written by Sisqó; the former song also featured Sisqó on guest vocals, while the latter featured rapper Silkk Tha Shocker. Both songs reached top ten on the U.S. Billlboard R&B/Hip Hop chart while "It's All About Me" also reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The videos for these two songs and for her third single "My First Night With You" were MTV staples through 1998. Mya received 2 Soul Train Music Awards nomination for Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist for Movin' On and Best R&B/Soul Album Mýa (both beaten by Erykah Badu). Not only did Mya's self titled debut album become 1 of the top 10 selling albums of 1998. It was certified double platinum on October 1, 1999 and became a big commercial success for her in the US.
In addition to her solo work, Mýa was also a featured artist with Ol' Dirty Bastard on Pras' 1998 grammy nominated hit, "Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)", from the Bulworth soundtrack. During the same year, Mýa also scored another hit as a featured vocalist on BLACKstreet's "Take Me There" from the The Rugrats Movie soundtrack, which also featured guest raps from Ma$e and Blinky Blink.
Fear of Flying
Fear of Flying (2000)
On April 25, 2000, Mýa released her second album, Fear of Flying. The album debut at number 15 on the Billboard 200 album charts with first week sales of 72,000 copies. Its first single, "Best of Me", was an urban R&B song that featured rapper Jadakiss and had an even more urban hip hop remix which featured rapper Jay-Z. The song and its remix were hits at urban radio but did not crossover to mainstream radio. Mýa's biggest pop hit came with the second single, "Case of the Ex". The song reached #2 in the U.S. and its music video performed well on MTV's TRL. Following the success of "Case of the Ex", Interscope re-released Fear of Flying on November 7, 2000 with a revised track listing containing two new songs, including the third single "Free". (which was previously on the Bait soundtrack) and a new track titled "Again and Again". "Free" was even more pop-friendly and became quite successful at MTV's TRL and pop radio. "Fear Of Flying", landed Mýa a Soul Train Music Award nomination for R&B/Soul album. Eventually Fear Of Flying went platinum on March 28, 2001 selling more than 1.2 million copies giving Mýa her second platinum album in the US. Although Fear Of Flying was received with mixed reviews, the album still became a huge commercial success for Mýa launching her career into superstardom.
Lady Marmalade
Lady Marmalade (2001)
In May 2001, Mýa collaborated with Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, and P!nk on a remake of LaBelle's "Lady Marmalade". The track was produced by hip hop producers Missy Elliott and Rockwilder and was featured in Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge!. The song's success was driven by its sexually suggestive video, which featured the four singers dressed in burlesque outfits. P!nk and Mýa later described that the immodest concept almost prevented the video from being filmed; nonetheless, the video was a huge hit on MTV, VH1, and MTV2, and collected several MTV Video Music Awards nominations in 2001. The song was also one of the year's biggest at pop, rhythmic, and even adult top 40. Mýa along side Christina Aguilera, Lil'Kim, and P!nk not only performed at the Grammys, but also won a grammy for Best Pop Collaboration. "Lady Marmalade" went on to collect numerous awards including 2 MTV Video Music Awards for Video Of The Year and Best Video From a Film.
Moodring
Moodring (2003)
After the release and success of Fear of Flying, Mýa began to dabble in acting with a supporting role in the 2002 Academy Award-winning musical film, Chicago, in which she would win a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance. In the following years, she continued appearing in films such as Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004), Shall We Dance? (2004), and Cursed (2005). In 2004, Mýa appeared as a Bond girl in the video game James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing; she also sang the video game's theme song, "Everything or Nothing". Mýa also went on to become a spokesperson for the Coca Cola company along side Common with their ad campaign Real Compared To What.
In July 2003, Mýa released her third long awaited studio album, Moodring. In the U.S., it peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart selling more than 113,000 in its first week of sales, making it Mýa's highest first week sales ever. The first single, the Missy Elliott-produced "My Love Is Like... Wo", became a top twenty hit in the U.S. due to its success on mainstream radio. This video featured Mýa acting as a "one woman circus", performing various circus tricks throughout the song. "My Love Is Like...Wo" was nominated for 2 MTV awards(one for Best Dance Video which was beaten by Justin Timberlake and one for Best Choreography in a Video which was beaten by Beyonce). The album's second single, "Fallen" (which samples "Saudade Vem Correndo" by Stan Getz, as does "Runnin'" by The Pharcyde), was not as successful only managing to peak at #51 on the Billboard 100 single charts. According to Nielson Soundscan the album has sold approximately 589,000 copies and is certified Gold. It is Mýa's lowest selling album to date.
In 2003, Mýa posed for Maxim magazine; her pictorial is featured on their Girls of Maxim gallery. She was also a model for King magazine. Mýa has also appeared in various print ads. She was signed to Ford Models in 2005.
Liberation
Mýa is currently re-working her fourth album Liberation. The lead single Lock U Down featuring Lil Wayne is expected to hit radio for March 5-6, 2007. Thus far Ayo have been released for promotional purposes only. According Rap-up.com Mýa has confirmed that her fourth studio album Liberation will be released on June 26, 2007 and a video for Mýa's official first single Lock U Down featuring Lil' Wayne will be shot in L.A. on April 4, 2007. According to Mya's official website, Mya's second single is called "Walka Not A Talka" and was produced by Jonathan "J.R." Rotem. The futuristic club track showcases Mya's extraordinary vocal talents and a new definition of walking the walk versus talking the talk over a brand new sound.\
