Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Harrison's eponymous debut album with Interscope Records was released in April 1998, and sold over a million copies in the United States, producing the gold-certified top ten single "It's All About Me" featuring Sisqó. In addition to her solo work, Mýa was also a featured artist with Ol' Dirty Bastard on Pras' 1998 Grammy Award-nominated hit, "Ghetto Superstar", from the Bulworth soundtrack and "Take Me There" from The Rugrats Movie soundtrack, with Blackstreet and Mase.

Her second studio album, platinum-selling Fear of Flying, was released in 2000 and became a success stateside and worldwide, with lead single "Case of the Ex" becoming Mýa's breakthrough hit, reaching number two on the Billboard Hot 100, number three on the UK Singles Chart, and number one on the Australian Singles Chart. A year after, Harrison won her first Grammy Award for the worldwide number-one hit "Lady Marmalade," a cover version she recorded alongside Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, and Pink for the soundtrack of the film Moulin Rouge! (2001).

The singer's third album Moodring was released in July 2003 stateside and eventually certified gold by the RIAA. It peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 selling more than 113,000 in its first week of sales, making it Mýa'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.

Following several label changes, Mýa's often-delayed fourth studio album, Liberation (2007), received a download-release in Japan only and led to her 2008 Japan-exclusive album Sugar & Spice.

Having expanded her career to acting and product endorsement deals, Harrison has been engaged in product endorsement deals with brands such as Coca-Cola, Iceberg, Tommy Hilfiger, and Motorola and has appeared in films such as Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004), Shall We Dance? (2004) and Cursed (2005). In 2002, she had a supporting role in the film adaptation of the 1975 Broadway musical Chicago, for which she won a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Mýa is currently working on her 6th studio album due this summer and to be released on her own independent label, entitled Planet 9. She's recently signed a new deal with J. Prince's Young Empire Music Group and slated to release a new mixtape called Beauty & The Streets Vol.1