MYA

Mya Harrison was born October 10, 1980. She's half Black, half Italian, and full of soul. Being the only girl (she has two brothers, Chaz & Nigel), Mya found ways to entertain herself. She likes to dance (this includes tap dancing), sing, play her violin and travel in her spare time. Mya also has another talent: she likes to design her own clothes!

The Washington D.C. native began her career as a dancer. Mya took dance classes as a child. After briefly losing interest in the art, she returned to dancing in her pre-teens, eventually joining the dance troupe T.W.A. (Tappers With Attitude).

She didn't spend much time as a T.W.A. member because she left to go to New York to study at the Dance Theater of Harlem with Savion Glover. Her passion for improvisation made her one of Savion's favorites.

Mya

Aside from dancing, Mya also had talent as a singer and a musician (she plays violin). At the age of 18, Mya released her debut album "Mya". After realizing that his daughter could really sing, Mya's father (a professional musician) began shopping around her demo tapes, eventually earning the attention of Haqq Islam, president of University Music.

Islam signed Mya to Interscope Records and enlisted an impressive list of collaborators, including Darryl Pearson, Babyface, Diane Warren, Raphael Brown, Wyclef Jean, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, and Sisqo and Nokio from Dru Hill. The resulting album was a smooth urban song cycle about love and growing up. The public welcomed her, with open arms.

Even though Mya's music career got off to a very good start, the singer/dancer says doesn't know if she's even in the right business.

Mya

"Sometimes, I think I should just be in a nightclub singing somewhere. Sometimes, I don't think I'm cut out for this music business. People get upset because I'm not the bubbly, outgoing type," says Mya. "They're always like 'Mya, you should talk more. Mya, you should go out more. Mya, you should be more personable.' But I feel fake when I do that type of stuff. I feel like I'm lying."

All she wants to do is stay true to herself, she doesn't want to fall into all the media hype. But in spite of being seriously shy (to the point of being an introvert), Mya is still making people stand up and notice her. Designer Tommy Hilfiger even name a lipstick after her!

Mya's latest cd, "Fear of Flying", has just hit the record stores. It sold 72,000 during it's first week, and it's still at the top of the charts. Her first single, "Best of Me", featuring Jadakiss of the L.O.X. is banging. She's even done a remix of "Best of Me" featuring Jay-Z. For someone who isn't sure if they're in the right business, Mya's sophmore effort is sure proving that sometimes things are just better the second time around.

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