Oh, Mio, Mya

Mya has earned her final diva stripe. After debuting nine years ago sans surname (Harrison, if you must ask), the 28-year-old triple threat has since proved herself in multiple formatsas R&B hit maker (My Love Is LikeWo), video vixen (her turn in the diva-tastic Lady Marmalade from Moulin Rouge), and film actress (Chicago, the upcoming comedy The Metrosexual). The Washington, D.C., native even created her own institute, the Mya Arts and Technology Foundation, where she teaches dance in her spare time. But wheres that definitive diva manifestothe album about how shes picked her battles, stared down haters in the music biz, and emerged a triumphant, independent woman? No worries: Its here, and it goes by the name of Liberation. The music industry makes it challenging for anyone to create something different and original, Mya admits, perched in hair and makeup at a New York City photo studio. But now Ill just do it. Ill pay for my own studio time. Or build my own studio. Because I can. Coating its heady material with jiggly, au courant luster, Liberation features beats by mega-producers such as Scott Storch and cameos from the likes of Snoop Dogg. And like any true diva, Mya knows how to play to the boys in her crowd. Theres no full-out club tracks this time around, says the writer of Whatever Bitch, the catty floor filler that was a highlight of 2003s Moodring. But when I sing new songs like Walka Not a Talka or I Am, I can see my gay friends out there. And they are with me!