Mýa

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Mýa
Background information
Birth name	Mýa Marie Harrison
Born	October 10, 1979 (1979-10-10) (age 29) Washington, D.C., United States
Genre(s)	R&B, hip hop, soul, pop
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, record producer, actress, dancer, choreographer
Instrument(s)	Vocals, Violin
Voice type(s)	Mezzo-soprano
Years active	1998–present
Label(s)	Interscope, Motown, Manhattan
Associated acts	Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Pink, Missy Elliott, Dru Hill, Silkk the Shocker, Sisqó
Website	www.MyaMya.com

Mýa Marie Harrison (born October 10, 1979), professionally known mononymously as Mýa, is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, actress, dancer, and choreographer.

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Harrison's eponymous debut album with Interscope Records was released in April 1998, and sold over a million copies in the United States, producing the gold-certified top ten single "It's All About Me" featuring Sisqo.^[1] Her second studio album, platinum-selling Fear of Flying, was released in 2000 and became a success stateside and worldwide, with lead single "Case of the Ex" becoming Mýa's breakthrough hit, reaching number-one on the Australian Singles Chart.^[1] A year after, Harrison won her first Grammy Award for the worldwide number-one hit "Lady Marmalade," a cover version she recorded alongside Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, and Pink for the soundtrack of the film Moulin Rouge! (2001).^[1] The singer's third album Moodring was released in July 2003 stateside and eventually certified gold by the RIAA.^[1] Following several label changes, Mýa's often-delayed fourth studio album, Liberation (2007), received a download-release in Japan only and led to her 2008 Japan-exclusive album Sugar & Spice.^[2]

Having expanded her career to acting and product endorsement deals, Harrison has been engaged in product endorsement deals with brands such as Coca-Cola, Iceberg, Tommy Hilfiger, and Motorola and has appeared in films such as Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004), Shall We Dance? (2004) and Cursed (2005). In 2002, she had a supporting role in the film adaptation of the 1975 Broadway musical Chicago, for which she won a Screen Actors Guild Award.^[3]

[edit] Early Life

Named after writer Maya Angelou, Mýa Marie Harrison was one of three children born to Sherman and Theresa Harrison in Washington, D.C. She grew up in nearby suburban Maryland with her two younger brothers, Chaz and Nijel. Her mother worked as an accountant and her father sang with a number of top-40 bands in the area. Mýa took violin lessons throughout her childhood, but dancing was her primary after-school activity. She took ballet lessons from the age of two and added jazz and tap dancing lessons to her schedule two years later. She entered some dance competitions with her brother as a partner, and then joined the Tappers With Attitude troop as a ten-year-old. Her tap dancing skills led to an opportunity to study with one of the best-known tap dancers in the country, Savion Glover of the Dance Theater of Harlem, when he came to Washington for a workshop. Glover later chose Mýa for a solo spot in a dance performance at the Kennedy Center.

With an African-American father and a mother of Italian descent, Mýa sometimes had to endure insensitive comments about her ethnic background. Her accomplishments as a dancer, however, helped Mýa to make the transition into adolescence and deal with the peer pressure that many teenagers experience. As she explained in an appearance on Canada's Much Music television show in January of 2001, "There was a time in my life when I wasn't popular and accepted by kids in school. I was made fun of with braces and kinky hair, and being from a multicultural family, et cetera. ... And it really hurts when you're that age, but later when you get something of your own or you get involved in activities like a sport, you begin to be accepted for what you do, and your personality and who you are, instead of your clothes and how you look and the name designer brands you have on." As a popular performer, Mýa would later draw on her experiences to speak to girls' groups as part of the Secret of Self-Esteem program for adolescents, addressing issues such as body image, peer pressure, and gender stereotypes.

While she continued to study dance and appeared on Teen Summit on the Black Entertainment Television network, Mýa changed her focus to music as she entered her teens. With the help of her father, she put together a demo tape when she was 15 and began to scout around for a record deal while she was still in high school. After an audition in the living room of University Music Entertainment president Haqq Islam, Mýa got herself a management deal which led to a recording contract with University and its major-label affiliate, Interscope Records. Mýa finished high school when she was 17 years old and subsequently took a few classes at the University of Maryland in College Park, but the teenager's primary focus was on the recording studio.^[4]

[edit] Recording Career

[edit] 1997–1999: Mýa (debut album)

Mýa released her self-titled, double-platinum debut album, Mýa, on April 22, 1998. The album featured the massively successful singles "It's All About Me", "Movin' On", and "My First Night with You". The album's lead single "It's All About Me", a duet with fellow R&B singer Sisqó produced her first top ten hit and was certified gold on June 4, 1998. The album produced two more top forty hits "Movin' On", and "My First Night with You". Within the next six months Mýa's self titled debut was certified platinum on October 1, 1998. The album garnered Mýa two Soul Train Music Award nominations for Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist and Best R&B/Soul Album - Female.

In addition to her solo work, Mýa was also a featured artist with Ol' Dirty Bastard on Pras' 1998 Grammy Award-nominated hit, "Ghetto Superstar", from the Bulworth soundtrack and "Take Me There" from The Rugrats Movie soundtrack, with Blackstreet and Mase.

[edit] 2000–2001: Fear of Flying

"'Fear Of Flying' is a metaphor for the ups and downs of life. It's about handling things like an adult, knowing you must have faith to make anything happen."

—Mýa, Billboard

On April 25, 2000, Mýa released her second studio album titled, Fear of Flying. The album debut at number fifteen on the Billboard 200 chart with first week sales of 72,000 copies. Upon initial release, the album seemed to be suffering from the dreaded sophomore slump. The album's leading single, "The Best of Me", featuring Jadakiss, was a dreamy midtempo tune that relies on Mýa's throaty inflections. The song was a hit at urban radio but did not crossover to mainstream radio. "The Best of Me", one of the better pop songs of 2000, under-performed on the charts, not even making it into the pop Top 40. The album's second single, the confrontational "Case of the Ex" was a dance-heavy jam with attitude; on it, Mýa confronts her man about an old lover who will not go away. "Case of the Ex" became Mýa's breakthrough hit reaching number two on the Billboard Hot 100, number three on the UK Singles Chart, and number one on the Australian Singles Chart. With the success of "Case of the Ex", Interscope re-released Fear of Flying on November 7, 2000 with a revised tracklisting 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 on MTV's TRL and pop radio. Fear of Flying, landed Mýa a Soul Train Music Award nomination for R&B/Soul album in 2001. Eventually Fear of Flying was certified platinum on March 28, 2001 selling more than 1.2 million copies in the United States alone. Although Fear of Flying was received with mixed reviews, the album still became a huge commercial success for Mýa launching her career into superstardom. Fear of Flying hit nearly as hard as Mýa's debut, remaining on Billboard 200 for 52 consecutive weeks.^[5]

In May 2001, Mýa collaborated with Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, and Pink on a remake of Labelle's 1974 hit "Lady Marmalade". The track was produced by hip hop producers Missy Elliott and Rockwilder and was featured in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge!. The single sold 5.5 million copies, becoming the most successful airplay-only single in history.^[6] The song's success was driven by its sexually suggestive video, which featured the four singers dressed in burlesque outfits. Pink 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 alongside Aguilera, Lil' Kim, and Pink not only performed at the Grammy Awards, but also won for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. "Lady Marmalade" went on to collect numerous awards including two MTV Video Music Awards for Video of the Year and Best Video from a Film.

[edit] 2002–2003: Moodring

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 Ensemble 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 with labelmate Common with their ad campaign Real Compared to What.

In July 2003, Mýa released her third long-awaited studio album, Moodring. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 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. The video featured Mýa acting as a "one-woman circus", performing various circus tricks throughout the song, and was nominated for two MTV Video Music Awards. The album's second single, "Fallen", failed to duplicate the same success but however reached the top forty on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

In 2003, Mýa posed for Maxim magazine; her pictorial is featured on their Girls of Maxim gallery.^[7] She was also a model for King magazine. Mýa has also appeared in various print ads. She signed a six figure contract with Ford Modeling Agency in 2005.

[edit] 2004–2008: Liberation and Sugar & Spice

Mýa had been working on her fourth studio album on and off since 2004. Originally conceived as a project called Control Freak, the album's first version was actually scheduled for a mid-2005 release and involving main production by Scott Storch, Dr. Dre, Lil Jon, Rockwilder and songwriter Sean Garrett.^[8] Although she intended to release a dance track called "Let It Go" at a particular time,^[9] the singer eventually decided to leave her management and A&M Records in fall 2005 before signing a new contract with Motown Records.^[10] Mýa began consulting a few other producers to collaborate on the album, renamed Liberation, and in mid-2006, a buzz track entitled "Ayo!" was released onto the internet.^[11] Due to time-consuming "litigations, court, transitioning from label to label, teaching kids [at the Mya Art & Tech Foundation] and building a [recording] studio" however, the song was never picked up as a single and the album's release was pushed back again.^[11] In March 2007, the album's actual lead single "Lock U Down", a Scott Storch-produced collaboration with Lil Wayne, was sent to radio. After its commercial failure, a second single entitled "Ridin'" was released, but as the song saw minor success on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart only,^[12] Liberation was delayed once more and eventually bumped from the U.S. schedule. As a result, the album was never released physically anywhere but in Japan.^[13]

In 2008, Mýa parted ways with Motown and contracted with a Japanese label, Manhattan Records. Having worked on new material since mid-2007, her fifth studio Sugar & Spice received a Japan-wide release in December 2008.^[14] Composed of production by less known producers, the album produced a new version of her single "Fallen," a cover of Diana King's hit "Shy Guy," as well as the first and final single "Paradise."

[edit] 2009:Beauty & Streets Vol.1 & 6th Studio Album

Mýa is currently working on her 6th studio album due this summer and to be released on her own independent label, entitled Planet 9. She recently inked a deal with J. Prince's Young Empire Music Group and will release a mixtape called Beauty & Streets Vol.1 due this fall. First single, Show Me Something featuring Houston-rapper Bun B has already leaked onto the internet. Mýa and Bun B will be shooting the video for Show Me Something July 18, 2009. ^{[15] [16]}

[edit] Artistry

[edit] Voice

Harrison is a mezzo-soprano, who's a dancer turned singer. Her voice is best describe as soft, mellow, strong, clear, assured, and whispery.^{[17] [18][19]} Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic commented that Mýa has a voice that is at once "innocent and knowing" while Billboard complimented her voice for having a "smooth, angelic tone" to it who oozes with the confidence and stylistic flair of an artist twice her age.^{[20] [21][22]} Other critics often calls her voice weak and thin. In reviewing for her second studio album Fear of Flying, Jon Azpiri of AllMusic commented that "she is a promising young talent, but still has yet to develop the chops necessary to rank among the best of R&B divas."^[23] Rolling Stone stated "The signature quiver in Mýa's voice does give her some sonic identity, but otherwise this could be the music of Destiny's Child, Aaliyah or any of the countless interchangeable hip-hop/R&B divas."^[24] During an interview with Billy Johnson Jr of Yahoo! Music in 2003, Mýa stated I like to sing loud, I like to sing soft, I just like to feel good, period. It's not that serious also commenting on the fact there are a lot of misconceptions just about singing, period and she's just happy to be here. She also mentions in the interview I think being a young artist, just starting out of high school, what kids listen to is club music. We don't necessarily get too deep or sing like Aretha Franklin. That's not even what music is truly about today. It's sad, but I want to give a little bit of sex, being fabulous or sassy. I definitely want to be able to sing and back that up, and being a dancer first has sort of given me a complex that I have to be able to sing, period, with a band. If I break my leg, I'd like to give a show without pyrotechnics and choreography every five seconds.^[25]

[edit] Songwriting & Producing

Since the beginning of her career, Mýa has always been artistically involved in her career. Harrison writes majority of her own material for her studio albums. She known for writing sexually driven lyrics and female empowerment compositions with a bit of an edge to them through her love for wordplay and incoporates a wide genre of music such as jazz, soul, hip-hop, techno, rock, reggae, and quiet storm.^[26][27] Using clever concepts and metahpor in her music, she's one of today's promising young talents and profound artists. Most of her songs are helmed from personal experiences in her life as well as friend's.^[28]

Harrison has co-produced most of her records since 2000. She is heavily involved in the production of her music and every single process, from writing and recording to producing, mixing, and mastering. Formulating the beat, creating the concept, and coming up with the melodies.^[29][30]

[edit] Influences

Mýa's musical influences includes the following Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Prince, Chaka Khan, Minnie Riperton and Madonna. Mýa praises Steve Wonder for his ability to hear music and play music and feel it and get other people to feel it and Madonna for her boldness and courage. Mýa calls Prince her musical hero stating, "He's someone who takes risks. He's an all-around entertainer, hell of a performer. He's a genius." while naming Minnie Riperton as her favorite female singer. ^{[31] [32][33]}

Mýa's dance influences includes the following Gregory Hines, Savion Glover, Jimmy Slide, Electric Boogaloos, Rock Steady Crew, Sid Charisse, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire and Sammy Davis Jr. ^[34]

She cites Lena Horne and Liza Minnelli as role models. ^[35]

[edit] Discography

• 1998: Mýa
• 2000: Fear of Flying
• 2003: Moodring
• 2007: Liberation
• 2008: Sugar & Spice
• 2009: TBA

[edit] Tours

• 1998: Smokin' Groove Tour
• 1999: Lilith Fair
• 2000: MTV European Tour
• 2001: House of Blues Tour
• 2003: House of Blues Tour
• 2007: Seagrams Live Tour
• 2007: BET Black College Tour

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Awards

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mýa

• Official website
• Mýa at Allmusic
• Mýa at the Internet Movie Database