Mýa Celebrates 25th Career Anniversary In Jamaica, Says Fans Should Expect Collab With Bounty Killer
American singer Mýa is celebrating 25 years in the industry, and over that quarter century, she’s become almost like a Jamaican cousin.
Her debut single was the Billboard Hot 100 top ten hit It’s All About Me with Sisqó, released on February 14, 1998. But, most Jamaicans know her for her collaborations with Beenie Man , Girls Dem Sugar (2000), Lie Detector (2000), and Mess Up My Hair (2011).
She’s also worked with Jah Cure, on Only You (2019), Ding Dong , on Handsfree (2019), Spice , on Take Him Out (2011), Ky-Mani Marley, on I Got You (2007), and Sean Paul, on Things Come and Go (2004) and Rear View Mirror (2011).
On Saturday, she was among the headliners at the Lovers & Friends concert at Grizzly’s Plantation Cove in St. Ann but had time for a short interview with YouTuber Dutty Berry, where she spoke on her upcoming collab with Bounty Killer, and the 25 years she’s spent in music.
The singer, who released memorable R&B singles such as Case of the Ex and Fallen, noted that the support from fans globally has been her fuel after all this time, and believes that she has yet to maximize her potential.
“I love music. Whether it’s songwriting, expressing myself—obviously Performing is an extension of that. I’ve been performing since I was a kid so it’s something I love to do. My dad still performs. He’s a singer. I love music though, and I love people and people keep me going. It’s all about them at the end of the day and when you give you receive. But, I have much better on the way. My best art and work is coming. I finished two albums during the pandemic and it’s beautiful and it’s timeless so I can’t wait to share that,” she said.
When the now 43-year-old singer burst onto the scene — at just 18 years old — it was an anomaly for a mixed-race female to dabble in pop music. However, Mya told Dutty Berrty that, from the inception, her career was built on experimentation.
“I was with a label that didn’t understand R&B and they were all rap and Rock so it was kinda like testing the experiment to figure out what this is and I had a lot of support so we were just trying to figure it out ,” she explained.
Back in 2021, Mýa was in Jamaica to work on the collab with Bounty Killer.
In an Instagram post at the time, Bounty shared scenes inside the studio with the American songbird vibing and ‘whining’ to their new beat, also suggesting the single may bear the name “Whine.” On the post, which he later deleted, he wrote in the caption, “@myaplanet9 [Mya] giving dem a piece of di Jamaican whine🇯🇲 Coming 🔜” WHINE.”
Mya alluded to this during her interview on Saturday, hinting that “you can dance to it. It’s a cultural dance.”
As she inches closer to her mid-40s, Mya still looks as youthful as ever. When asked what her secret was, she responded:
“No drama. Nuh stress. Eliminate all of the craziness. Protect your energy…I know what drama looks like because I’ve been through drama so I’m very, very cautious and making sure I get some alone time…self care is very important. This diet, this exercise.”