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Biography

Mya Marie Harrison was born October 10, 1979, in Washington, D.C, and is the daughter of an African-American father and Italian mother. Her father performed in R&B bands, and must have passed his musical tendency to young Mya. Although she always knew that she would work in the music industry, she started out as a dancer. Her love of dance shone through when a 2-year-old Mya danced in the pool between the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. She began to take dance lessons soon after, specializing mostly in ballet, jazz and tap. While she lost interest in dance at the age of 8, she still showed passion for music with violin lessons in the fourth grade. Mya took a brief hiatus from dance, but she returned to her hobby in 1992, piqued by her watching videos of herself dancing. She them studied tapes of Savion Glover, known for his work in the Broadway sensation Bring In Da Noise, Bring In Da Funk. With the help of Glover's tapes and practice on Mya's part, she eventually joined the group T.W.A. (Tappers With Attitude). Mya then headed for New York to study with Glover himself, at the legendary Dance Theater of Harlem. Thanks to her fantastic ability to improvise, not to mention the fact that Glover was impressed with her tapping talent, Glover gave Mya a solo spot at a Kennedy Center performance. Almost giving back what she learned from the incomparable Savion Glover, Mya has been teaching children dance ever since the age of 14. But it was when Mya's father heard her sing that he became dedicated to helping her pursue a career as a singer. Under his guidance, Mya recorded some demo tapes and perfected her vocals. He brought her demo tapes to a club where he was performing, where as luck would have it, the President and CEO of University Music, Haqq Islam was present. 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 signed a six figure contract with Ford Models in 2005.On March 5, 2007, the album's first single "Lock U Down", a Storch-produced collaboration with Lil Wayne, was sent to U.S. radios. The song failed to chart or sell noticeably. A second single entitled "Ridin'" was released in July 2007. The video for "Ridin'" was released in September 2007.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. The 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 Beyoncé). 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. Moodring was certified gold as of September 25, 2003.