In 2000, Mýa acknowledged her Fear of Flying with the release of her sophomore studio project.
“Fear of Flying is a metaphor for the ups and downs of life,” she explained to Billboard magazine. “It’s about handling things like an adult, knowing you must have faith to make anything happen.”
Fast forward to the year 2018 and Mýa is now in complete control of her career and her image. Following the accidental release of her fourth studio LP, Liberation in 2007, the Washington DC native took the independent route and has been at it non-stop ever since.
We recently caught up with Mýa to discuss her ninth independent project, TKO (The Knock Out), trusting your gut and being a #GirlBoss.
Why do you think so many artists who’ve had success are taking the independent route nowadays?
Mýa: Artists who are passionate about their music and in love with their art go independent because they want to continue making music and serving it to the world. Often, when you’re signed to a major label, you have to wait in line for budgets to open up and get cleared. A life without music feels like it’s not a life at all, so when you’re in love with something, you want to constantly be able to do it without restraints. That’s part of the empowerment and freedom that being independent brings and allows.
Was there anything about going independent in the very beginning that made you rethink your decision?
Mýa: It was always a learning process and it still is for me ten years later. I learned different components of the business, from publishing to copyright to radio and how each area works. It has truly been a blessing for me to absorb the knowledge that I would not have absorbed had I stayed in a system, which is a beautiful system. It made me who I am, but there are fans that are still here and are hungry for music and now they can receive it because you have the luxury to put out a new project any time that you’d like as an independent artist. In the process of new territory, you learn new things, but there’s never been a moment where I regretted my decision. I have considered going into the major label system differently, which may just be distribution because I now have more to bring to the table as a label versus just an artist looking for a budget.
Read my full interview with Mýa for The Boombox [here].
A Royal Point of View 