With her natural mix of effervescence, charisma, and command, Mýa is among a small class of contemporary pop-R&B artists who shot to fame in the late '90s and continues to thrive decades later. In 1998, the singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress scored a Top Ten pop hit with her debut single, "It's All About Me," and she was soon a featured artist on another major hit, Pras' "Ghetto Supastar." She returned to the Top Ten with "Case of the Ex" and earned platinum certifications for her first two albums, Mýa and Fear of Flying, by the time she topped the Hot 100 with "Lady Marmalade," her Grammy-winning 2001 collaboration with Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, and P!nk. After two more albums, including the Top Ten 2003 release Moodring, Mýa went independent as she divided her work between recording, acting, philanthropy, teaching, and even competing on Dancing with the Stars. Her self-released projects are highlighted by Smoove Jones, a 2016 full-length nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best R&B album. Mýa continues to juggle numerous pursuits while issuing singles such as 2021's "Worth It" (under her hip-hop alias Mýa Lan$ky) and the '80s-influenced 2025 slow jam "Face to Face."

Mýa was raised in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, where she took dance and music classes as a child. After briefly losing interest in the dance, she returned to it in her preteens and eventually joined the dance troupe T.W.A. (Tappers with Attitude). She left the group after a short while and headed to New York to study at the Dance Theater of Harlem with Savion Glover, best known as the choreographer/mastermind behind the Broadway spectacular Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk. Her passion for improvisation made her a favorite of Glover's, who had her perform solo at the Kennedy Center.

Although Mýa was best known as a dancer, she was also musically inclined. During her childhood, she learned to sing and play the violin. When her father, a professional musician, learned that his daughter could sing and was serious about a musical career, he shopped around demo tapes. The recordings eventually earned the attention of Haqq Islam, president of University Music. Impressed with Mýa's audition, Islam subsequently worked out a deal with major-label Interscope.

Mýa and Interscope spent the next year working on her self-titled debut album, hiring an impressive list of collaborators who included Babyface, Diane Warren, Wyclef Jean, Missy Elliott, and Dru Hill's Sisqó and Nokio. The result, released in April 1998, was a smooth R&B song cycle about love and growing up. The first two singles, "It's All About Me" and "Movin' On," reached the Top Five of the Billboard R&B chart and sent the album to platinum status. Two years later, Fear of Flying, which featured collaborations with Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and Jadakiss, as well as a handful of tracks made with a pre-fame Robin Thicke, arrived with a Top 20 placement on the Billboard 200. Its biggest hit was "Case of the Ex," an early hit for emergent producer Tricky Stewart, but it was outshone early the following year by "Lady Marmalade," recorded with Lil' Kim, Christina Aguilera, and P!nk for the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge. The colorful cover of the LaBelle classic reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and won a 2002 Grammy Award in the category of Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Also in 2002, Mýa appeared as a murderers' row prisoner in Chicago. The role earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Moodring, Mýa's third album, was issued in June 2003. Top-heavy with "My Love Is Like...Wo" and "Fallen" as the first two songs and the only singles, it was nonetheless her finest album, a gold-seller enhanced with input from the likes of Stewart, Elliott, Timbaland, and the team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The path to Mýa's fourth album was not nearly as smooth. Numerous obstacles were encountered before, during, and after its making. There were acting roles in Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Shall We Dance?, and Cursed. She moved from A&M/Interscope to Motown for Liberation, which was released only in Japan. Mýa established her own label, Planet 9, launched in 2008 with Sugar & Spice. A digital-download mixtape was made available in 2009, the same year Mýa competed on the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars. Two years later, she released K.I.S.S. (Keep It Sexy & Simple), her most pop- and club-oriented album. A trio of relatively R&B-rooted EPs -- With Love, Sweet XVI, and Love Elevation Suite -- followed in 2014 and 2015. On Valentine's Day 2016, Mýa released her seventh LP, Smoove Jones, which played to her strengths and received a Best R&B Album nomination at the 59th Grammy Awards. The following year, she issued "Ready for Whatever" and "Ready, Pt. II." These singles appeared on her eighth album, T.K.O., which arrived in April 2018. 2019 saw Mýa team up with dancehall star Ding Dong for the bouncy single "Handsfree."

In addition to continued acting work, Mýa was active with music in the 2020s, touring and recording. Though she didn't release any albums during the decade's first half, she remained visible with a steady flow of singles. Tracks such as "You Got Me, Pt. 2," "Space and Time," and "Just Call My Name" were issued in 2020. "Worth It," "Sex Machine," and "Whine" (featuring Bounty Killer), among others, followed over the next few years. After she took part in the Queens of R&B Tour, she delivered "Face to Face," which landed in 2025. ~ Andy Kellman & Stephen Thomas Erlewine