Mya was born and raised in Prince George's County, Maryland a suburb of Washington, D.C.. She also has two younger brothers named Chaz and Nigel. Her mother is Italian and her father is African American. Myastudied both singing and tap, at one point taking lessons in New York City from Savion Glover. As a teenager, she appeared as a dancer on BET's Teen Summit talk show. Mya taught dance for several years before and after she became famous. She attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland, where she graduated at age sixteen. Mya was a cheerleader in high school.

In 1997, Myasigned a recording contract with Haqq Islam's University Records, after being brought to the label by her friends an R&B group Dru Hill. The four members of the group, Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin, Mark "Sisqó" Andrews, Larry "Jazz" Anthony', and James "Woody" Green, wrote and produced half of Myaeponymous debut album, Mýa. The first two singles, "It's All About Me" and "Movin' On", were co-written by Sisqó; the former song also featured Sisqó on guest vocals, while the latter featured rapper Silkk Tha Shocker. Both songs reached top ten on the U.S. Billlboard R&B/Hip Hop chart while "It's All About Me" also reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The videos for these two songs and for her third single "My First Night With You" were MTV staples through 1998. Mya received 2 Soul Train Music Awards nomination for Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist for Movin' On and Best R&B/Soul Album Mya(both beaten by Erykah Badu). Not only did Mya's self titled debut album become 1 of the top 10 selling albums of 1998. It was certified Platinum on October 1, 1998 and became a big commercial success for her selling more than 2.1 million copies in the US.
In addition to her solo work, Myawas also a featured artist with Ol' Dirty Bastard on Pras' 1998 grammy nominated hit, "Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)", from the Bulworth soundtrack. During the same year, Myaalso scored another hit as a featured vocalist on BLACKstreet's "Take Me There" from the The Rugrats Movie soundtrack, which also featured guest raps from Ma$e and Blinky Blink.

On April 25, 2000, Myareleased her second album, Fear of Flying. The album debut at number 15 on the Billboard 200 album charts with first week sales of 72,000 copies. Its first single, "Best of Me", was an urban R&B song that featured rapper Jadakiss and had an even more urban hip hop remix which featured rapper Jay-Z. The song and its remix were hits at urban radio but did not crossover to mainstream radio. Mýa's biggest pop hit came with the second single, "Case of the Ex". The song reached #2 in the U.S. and its music video performed well on MTV's TRL. Following the success of "Case of the Ex", Interscope re-released Fear of Flying on November 7, 2000 with a revised track listing containing two new songs, including the third single "Free". (which was previously on the Bait soundtrack) and a new track titled "Again and Again". "Free" was even more pop-friendly and became quite successful at MTV's TRL and pop radio. "Fear Of Flying", landed Mya a Soul Train Music Award nomination for R&B/Soul album. Eventually Fear Of Flying went platinum on March 28, 2001 selling more than 1.2 million copies giving Mya her second platinum album in the US.Although Fear Of Flying was received with mixed reviews, the album still became a huge commercial success for Mya launching her career into superstardom.

In May 2001, Myacollaborated with Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, and P!nk on a remake of LaBelle's "Lady Marmalade". The track was produced by hip hop producers Missy Elliott and Rockwilder and was featured in Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge!. The song's success was driven by its sexually suggestive video, which featured the four singers dressed in burlesque. P!nk and Myalater described that the immodest concept almost prevented the video from being filmed; nonetheless, the video was a huge hit on MTV, VH1, and MTV2, and collected several MTV Video Music Awards nominations in 2001. The song was also one of the year's biggest at pop, rhythmic, and even adult top 40. Mya along side Christina Aguilera, Lil'Kim, and P!nk not only performed at the Grammys, but also won a grammy for Best Pop Collaboration. "Lady Marmalade" went on to collect numerous awards including 2 MTV Video Music Awards for Video Of The Year and Best Video From a Film.

After the release and success of Fear of Flying, Myabegan to dabble in acting with a supporting role in the 2002 Academy Award-winning musical film, Chicago, in which she would win a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance. In the following years, she continued appearing in films such as Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004), Shall We Dance? (2004), and Cursed (2005). In 2004, Myaappeared as a Bond girl in the video game James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing; she also sang the video game's theme song, "Everything or Nothing". Mya also went on to become a spokesperson for the Coca Cola company along side Common with their ad campaign Real Compared To What.
In July 2003, Myareleased 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 Mya'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. This video featured Mya 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 Beyonce). 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. The album has sold more than 1.4 million copies to date giving Mya her third platinum album.

In 2003, Myaposed for Maxim magazine; her pictorial is featured on their Girls of Maxim gallery. She was also a model for King magazine. Mya has also appeared in various print ads. She was signed to Ford Models in 2005.