foreign
age Maya had it she could dance she could sing and it didn't hurt that she was also easy on
the eyes even though she'd end up launching her music career during a time period where she'd be
competing with numerous other R B Divas Maya still stood out and held her own her journey
though wasn't without its trials and tribulations from her battle with schoolyard bullies to her
record company's Shady tactics to rumors about her bedroom escapades with various men in the
industry through it all Maya chose to stay the course fight for what she wanted and be true to
herself Maya Marie Harrison was born the oldest of three on October 10 1979 in Washington DC to
a musician and singer father an accountant mother she took violin lessons throughout her childhood
but dance was her main love at the age of just two she started ballet lessons and a couple of
years after that she dove into jazz and Tab while she was honing her artistic skills growing up she
had to deal with insult and teasing because of her biracial background her father is black and
her mother is white I can remember being as young as five years old and not wanting
to be seen going out with my parents because I felt that people were staring at me like I
was an alien or something it was something rare and something different in my area back then I
guess different is bad when you're a kid because you just want to fit in with everyone else after
graduating from high school Maya did take a few classes at the University of Maryland at
College Park but her mind was always on music when her father realized that she was serious
about a career in the industry he began shopping her demo tape around eventually catching the
interest of the president and CEO of University Music Entertainment Hawk Islam who later signed
her being the connected guy he was he was then able to hook Maya up with a distribution deal
through inner skull he also hired an elite team of collaborators to work with her including Missy
Elliott Babyface Diane Warren Drew Hill and silt the Shocker with with the goal in mind
to Market Maya as their main female R B artist going up against Piers Aaliyah Brandy and Monica
Maya's self-titled debut album dropped in the spring of 1998. it yielded three successful
singles including her debut single called It's All About Me featuring fellow R B singer Cisco
it became a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. moving on and my first night with
you both made it into the top 40. the album eventually went platinum and gave Maya her
first award accolades which included two Soul Train Music Award nominations and a NAACP image
award nomination professionally Maya was on fire but personally she was struggling her mother was
diagnosed with breast cancer and her parents had filed for divorce she told vibe in 2018 watching
my family deteriorate not knowing what was going to happen to the house we grew up in what was
going to happen to my mother made me torn I had to step up to the plate and be the father not so
much the husband but I had to be there for my mom emotionally and financially while having to put a
smile on my face as a teenager I was forced into adulthood immediately Behind the Music
she was also dealing with sexual harassment at the age of 17 from an executive she says was
instrumental in her career she be told by Vixen in 2007 that even at that young age she knew not
to entertain the advances but she didn't know how to stand up for herself either so she just
internalized it in addition to her solo work Maya also collaborated with other artists in
projects that turned out to be quite successful including take me there with Blackstreet Blinky
blink and mace for the soundtrack of the animated film The Rugrats Movie as well
as Ghetto Superstar with old dirty bastard and Pros recorded for praza's debut album and also
added to the soundtrack for the political satire film bullworth the latter became a
worldwide number one hit topping the charts in more than a dozen countries and earned Maya her
first Grammy Award nomination in the best rap performance by a duo or group category
with the turn of a new millennium came new music from Maya with the release of
her second album titled fear of flying in April 2000 while the lead single The Best
of Me featuring Jadakiss underperformed as well as the part 2 version featuring
Jay-Z the album's second single called case of the X exploded on the charts climbing
all the way to number two on the Hot 100 and became Maya's International breakthrough hit
with the success of case of the X her label re-released fear of flying in the fall of the
same year with a revised track listing featuring two new songs including the third single free the
album would go on to become her second Platinum project later on that year Maya lent her vocals
to the reggae Fusion track girls Dem Sugar by Jamaican dancehall artist beanie man even though
it only did moderately well in the U.S it did become an international hit the numbers her body
of work was put putting up though wouldn't Silence the Critics in the review of her second album all
music commented that quote she is a promising young talent but still has yet to develop the
shops necessary to rank among the best of R D Divas end quote Rolling Stones similarly wrote
quote the signature quiver in Maya's voice does give her some Sonic identity but otherwise this
could be the music of Destiny's Child Aaliyah or any of the countless interchangeable hip-hop
R B Divas end quote her next work of art would have her collaborating with three other singers
on a remake of the 70s hit that would take her career to even higher hides a remake of The 1975
LaBelle hit Lady Marmalade featuring Christina Aguilera Lil Kim and pink off the Moulin Rouge
soundtrack was released in April 2001 and shot to number one on the Hot 100 staying there for five
consecutive weeks it also hit the top spot in over 15 countries at that Year's MTV Video Music Awards
Lady Marmalade was nominated for six Awards walking away with two the following year the
quartet performed the song at the Grammys and won the award for best pop collaboration with vocals
Maya's third album mood ring was released in the summer of 2003 the Project's first single My Love
is Like Whoa became a top 20 hit on the hot 100. unfortunately the second single Fallen failed to
duplicate the same success also around this time Maya created the Maya arts and Tech Foundation a
non-profit that provides inner city youth with arts and Tech education after tiring from the
fight for artistic control Maya parted with Interscope in 2005 and signed with universal
Motown her next release would be the track lock you down featuring Lil Wayne slated to
be the lead single off her upcoming album It was a commercial failure as was the second single Ryden
the album titled Liberation suffered numerous pushbacks and in mid-2007 was accidentally
leaked in Japan prompting her label to release it as a digital only download that October
disappointed by the label and determined to do things her way Maya departed from Universal
Motown and continued working on new material under her own independent imprint planet nine her next
two albums sugar and spies and kiss were released in 2008 and 2011 respectively in Japan in between
those projects Maya appeared as a contestant on season 9 of the ABC reality show Dancing
with the Stars one of the show's Front Runners throughout the entire competition she ultimately
plays second starting in 2014 Maya released a series of eps on her independent label followed
by her seventh studio album titled smooth Jones in 2016 a critical success it received a Grammy award
nomination for best r b album at the 59th ceremony and gave her confirmation that all her hard work
especially during the low moments was all worth it her last album today TKO The Knockout was released
in April 2018 commemorating the 20th anniversary of her start in the business one of the best tools
that Mayas used to help her continue to make her music her way is frugality at one time a
rumor surfaced about her being broke and living in a studio apartment without any furniture well
the living in a studio apartment part is correct but Maya is far from broke she made the conscious
choice to downgrade her lifestyle and live more simply for the sake of her art preferring
to reserve her money for more expensive things like radio PR marketing and management in 2019
Maya added another reality show credit to her name when she co-starred in the VH1 reality
television series Girls cruise with close friend Lil Kim in February 2020 Maya said everyone's
Twitter fingers on fire when she posted a pic of herself in a wedding gown with the caption
reading in part officially Mrs Lansky naturally people were wondering who the lucky guy was that
she'd gotten hitched to but it turned out that the photo was from the music video for her song
called true Maya though decided to not confirm anything and let the rumor write its course
then during an interview the following air she revealed that she was in fact married to herself
back in 2013 Maya chose to practice sologamy marriage by a person to themselves it was all
about self-care self-love and getting myself back after a toxic relationship last year I renewed my
vows stepping into a new year it's not about anything like all men are bad or anything like
that it's really about becoming your best self and making sure that you're leveling up in all aspects
of your life as for the Mrs Lansky part it's her Alter Ego as she explained A vibe in 2021 Maya
Lansky is a boss Maya Lansky is also Maya Harrison it's who I step up to be when I think I become too
vulnerable too gullible or too soft in my approach to maybe relying on or waiting on others Maya
Lansky is the person that always steps up to the plate to learn a new skill set if necessary like
many other songstresses Maya has also dabbled in the acting world over the years she secured
roles in over a dozen films including her debut in 1999 in the crime Thriller film In Too Deep
and the 2002 Musical Chicago based on the stage musical of the same name that role would win
her several Awards in The Ensemble categories including the Critics Choice movie award and
the Screen Actors Guild award she's also made a variety of small screen appearances including a
very memorable one as herself in an episode of the 90s TV sitcom Sister Sister any fan of Maya's will
know that she's never been one to freely broadcast her personal business including who she dates or
what her relationship status is at any given time as a result she's had to contend with some crazy
rumors about her getting down with a bunch of people in the industry such as Lil Zane so the
Shocker and the game there was even one about her having Cisco's baby one of the biggest stories
that just wouldn't die came about following her sexy appearance in the game's music video for
his song Dreams 50 Cent decided to insert himself and claim in a diss track to the game called I'm
not rich and still lion that he had knocked her boots first Maya denied doing anything of the
sort with him and said she didn't know how he could get rapper Lloyd Banks confused with her
with her father in tow Maya confronted 50 about the blatant lie and he apologized however since
the confrontation happened behind closed doors Maya Still For Years continued to deal with being
viewed as someone who gets around in the industry another rapper that she's had issues with is Jay-Z
according to those around the two at the time that they were getting ready to do the remix
to Maya's song The Best of Me he didn't like the fact that she wasn't showing him the appreciation
he felt she should by having someone like him Grace her track with his presence he became so
annoyed at one point that the collab almost didn't happen in 2014 Maya also finally put
to rest the long-running rumor that she and Jay had a romantic relationship vehemently denying
anything ever occurred between them in a lengthy Instagram comment if you're wondering why she
felt prompted to say something after ignoring it for so long the reason can be chalked up to
the death threat she received as well as a face-to-face confrontation with a fan years
later she'd reveal that at one point in her career she was urged to date Superstars for publicity she
refused but that didn't stop the rumor mill from fixating on Gossip Maya continues to live in the
recording studio saying she doesn't often come out unless she's touring when she does take to
the stage her long time vegan lifestyle is on Full display with her looking and sounding just as good
as she did in the 90s in 2023 she'll celebrate 25 years in the music industry as an internationally
known singer songwriter producer musician dancer choreographer actress activist and philanthropist
thank you