In the midst of celebrating two career milestones — first studio album in eight years and the 25th anniversary of her Grammy-winning hit “Lady Marmalade” with Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim and P!nk — Mýa has added two more stops to her current promotional junket.
She will be the special guest for the Black Music Month celebration at The Dell Music Center in Philadelphia on June 25. The artist is also set to perform at the Vanport Jazz Festival in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 7. In addition, Mýa is planning to release deluxe and vinyl editions of her 10th album, Retrospect. Independently released through her Planet 9 label in association with Virgin Music Group, the project is the successor to 2018’s T.K.O (The Knock Out).
“I’ve learned that music is life,” Mýa tells Billboard about her eight-year album hiatus. ”It keeps me going. I released about 16 singles in between albums, so I’m very committed to the experience.
“My patience has also been tested these last eight years,” she continues, “because of the process of new technologies, legal negotiations, locking down features, redoing certain songs and remixing/remastering the album. But it’s because I like perfection. This album isn’t just a bunch of songs compiled together.”
The singer-songwriter recently released the album’s latest single, “Just a Little Bit” featuring Too $hort. It’s the follow-up to lead single “ASAP,” a top 20 hit on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart. The set taps into contemporary vibes while simultaneously paying homage to ‘70s and ‘80s R&B, soul and funk, the and also features guest collabs with Snoop Dogg, D-Nice, Joyner Lucas and 21 Savage (on the “ASAP” remix).
Mýa calls flirtatious anthem “Just a Little Bit” a “very cheeky game of cat and mouse; very sultry and sassy. But also commanding and inviting: I know what you want, but you’ve got to put in that work. Because if you’re looking for an overnight [thing], I’m not that person.”
The track is also reminiscent sonically of ‘80s West Coast funk, which is why Mýa asked Too $hort to join her. “I’d never collaborated with him before,” she adds. “He’s a legend and also independent. I usually lean on independent artists when scouting features because there’s a common language that we all understand. And it’s quicker to happen without so many people in the mix.”
Before the Pussycat Dolls canceled the North America leg of its PCD Forever tour, Mýa and Lil’ Kim were slated to also join the outing. However, Mýa notes she will “be in rehearsals soon to develop my live show for Retrospect and the entire Mýa live experience,” with plans to “take it on the road this fall.”
Reflecting on her career journey from 1998 — charting additional hits such as “It’s All About Me” with Sisqo and “Case of the Ex” — Mýa describes her younger self as determined. “I was determined to show Interscope Records that I belonged there,” she explains. “That I had just as much ammunition, drive, work ethic and discipline to succeed.”
The adjective she would choose now is “resilient.” “In this new independent landscape, it’s not easy doing something for which there’s no handbook or an actual school,” she tells Billboard. “Yet, figuring things out, and then finding joy in all the lessons and the newness, is very exciting in this ever-changing space.”
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