Mýa has long gotten over her “Fear of Flying.”
The Grammy-winning entertainer is marking nearly 18 years of making music independently with her 10th studio album “Retrospect” (out now), an euphony of ’70s and ’80s funk and soul that sees the D.C.-born singer and dancer drawing from “where I came from.”
The “Lady Marmalade” singer calls it “an ode, it’s homage, it’s a salute to the pioneers and the greats” that brought “joyous” music to the world. She’s excited to bring that feeling to stages (though no longer with the Pussycat Dolls, who canceled their tour earlier this month).
As her first album in eight years is released, the singer talks about remaining relevant as a performer, her vegan lifestyle and the freedom label independence has afforded her well into her career.
Mya on live performance amid Pussycat Dolls tour cancellation, being vegan on the road
Before the Pussycat Dolls announced they were canceling all but one of its North American 2026 tour dates, Mýa and Lil’ Kim were set to join (it’s also the 25-year anniversary of “Lady Marmalade”). Mýa, who, despite the break from releasing music has been no stranger to the stage, can still be found performing over the summer in promotion of her new project, including at the Forever Mine Fest in Chicago and the Vanport Jazz Festival in Portland.
Much like viewers of her 2025 BET Awards performance who praised the “Case of the Ex” singer’s endurance as a disciplined performer, audiences this summer are in for a further reminder of her longevity as an entertainer while she creates a place of “congregation and joy.”
“I always want to leave those that come out for an experience better off than when they came in the door and pleased and fulfilled or satisfied,” she says. “ It brings me so much joy when expectations are either met or exceeded because we’re servers, honestly, at the end of the day.”
In preparation for those performances, Mýa emphasizes working out, getting her sleep and maintaining her vegan diet, which she emphasizes isn’t hard to do on the road. She fasts and makes the choice to avoid processed vegan foods as much as possible, opting for whole foods and handmade dishes she can put together at nearby grocery stores. “ I make a mean chickpea salad,” she says.
“Vegan is worldwide,” she added. “Touring is a little different, but I’ve done raw vegan challenges, alkaline vegan challenges worldwide while I’m touring the world. My veganism will not change because that’s a spiritual choice for life.”
Mya on being independent for two decades: ‘It sharpens the iron’
In 2008, Mýa founded her independent label, Planet 9, after challenges with her former label culminated in an album leak.
The label moniker, Planet 9, refers to Pluto, which around that time was controversially excluded from planet status. She compares it to being attached to a label since her late teens, and suddenly having to define yourself outside of the label system.
The move to independence came out of a “ very deep spiritual journey,” she says, which included renting “outer space DVDs” at the library, watching them in the sanctuary of her studio.
“It was a spiritual attunement, and that is where I began to unlearn, but also relearn … my identity, unlearn some of the expectations that were placed upon me,” she says. “Unlearn this thing called fame and whatever it meant, or even recording artists or label. And I’d say recreate my own rules, my own timeline and my core, the core of who I really was and why I was doing music and what I wanted to bring to it.”
During that time, going the indie route was not nearly as prevalent in the music industry as it is now. The move required her to wear many hats – from travel agent to producer to financier – but created a “very addictive” level of freedom.
“It sharpens the iron,” she says, noting that going independent has culminated in a Grammy nomination for her 2016 album “Smoove Jones.” She said the recognition was “a reminder to keep going and trust your instincts and trust your ear and trust yourself.”
“You have to show up for you first before others begin or can begin to believe in you,” she says. “It’s been a wonderful journey of self-discovery, of proving to self, of showing self and surprising self with amazing outcomes, and of course, growth constantly.”
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