Planet 9 is an American

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

founded by American singer

Mýa Mya Marie Harrison (; born October 10, 1979), known professionally as Mýa, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, and actress. She was born in Washington D.C. and studied ballet, jazz, and tap dance as a child. Her ca ...

. After parting ways with her major label,

Universal Motown Universal Motown Records was an American record label that operated as a division of Universal Motown Republic Group. It was the contemporary incarnation of the legendary Motown Records label, and the " urban" half of the Universal Records ...

and following the advice of her mentor

J. Prince James Prince (born James Andre Smith; October 31, 1965) is an American record executive, music promoter and talent manager. He founded the Houston-based Southern hip-hop record label Rap-A-Lot Records in 1986, which has discovered or signed art ...

, Harrison established and developed her own independent label with a new business approach in mind to create and release music. Following the events of her fourth studio album, ''

Liberation Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

'' (2007) being mishandled and accidentally leaking on the internet, she was contracted by R&B based Japanese record company, Manhattan Recordings. Through that label, she exclusively release and self-funded, recorded, and engineered her first independent project, ''

Sugar & Spice ''Sugar & Spice'' is a 2001 American teen black comedy film directed by Francine McDougall, written by Lona Williams under the alias of "Mandy Nelson", and starring Marla Sokoloff, Marley Shelton, Melissa George, Mena Suvari, Rachel Blanchard, ...

'' (2008). Three years later, she exclusively released the follow-up, the

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...

orientated '' K.I.S.S. (Keep It Sexy & Simple)'' (2011) through the same label. Since its creation, Harrison through her label Planet 9 has released thirteen independent studio projects. Following the exclusive releases in Japan, she recorded and released three relatively R&B rooted

EPs An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

, ''

With Love With Love may refer to: Music Albums * '' ...with Love'', by Mary Byrne * ''With Love'' (Amanda Lear album), 2006 * ''With Love'' (Bobby Vinton album), 1974 * ''With Love'' (Charles Tolliver album), 2006 * '' With Love, Chér'', 1967 * ''Wi ...

'' (2014), '' Sweet XVI'' (2014), and '' Love Elevation Suite'' (2015). In 2016, she released the

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nominated, ''

Smoove Jones ''Smoove Jones'' is the seventh studio album by American singer Mya. It was released exclusively through Apple Music and iTunes on February 14, 2016 by Planet 9, Harrison's label, while physical copies were made available for purchase through ...

''. ''

TKO (The Knock Out) ''T.K.O. (The Knock Out)'' is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mya. It is the follow-up to her album '' Smoove Jones'' (2016) and was released April 20, 2018, on her label Planet 9 to commemorate the twentieth anniversary o ...

'' arrived in 2018 to honor the 20th anniversary of her debut album, ''

'' (1998). Under the Planet 9 moniker, Harrison expanded its brand and venture into

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the cultivation and production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feat ...

and

apparel Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

. Produced in partnership with Frey Vineyards, Harrison created Planet 9 Fine Wine, an organic vegan wine.

History

Career beginnings

Prior to Mýa recording and releasing her first independent album overseas, she released three successful studio albums in the United States; 1998's ''

'', 2000's ''

Fear of Flying Fear of flying is the fear of being on an aircraft, such as an airplane or helicopter, while it is in flight. It is also referred to as flying anxiety, flying phobia, flight phobia, aviophobia, aerophobia, or pteromerhanophobia (although aero ...

'' and 2003's ''

Moodring ''Moodring'' is the third studio album by American singer Mya, released on July 22, 2003, by A&M and Interscope Records. Before Mya began to work on what would eventually be her third studio album, she participated in prior engagements which wo ...

''. In 1998, Mýa released her debut self-titled album, which peaked at No. 13 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

chart. ''Fear of Flying'' (2000) fared even better at No. 7, with the single " Case of the Ex" reaching No. 2 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

. In 2001, she took home a

for "

Lady Marmalade "Lady Marmalade" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan that is famous for the French refrain of "''Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir''?", which is a sexual proposition that translates into English as: "''Do you want to sleep with m ...

", her massive No. 1 single with

Pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...

Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper. She was born and raised in New York City and lived much of her adolescent life on the streets after ...

, and

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...

. A role in the hit film ''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

'' and other acting opportunities followed. After she released ''Moodring'' in 2003, with the exception of a popular stint on ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

'' in 2009 (she finished second), it seemed as if Mýa had left the entertainment industry.

Hiatus and leakage

In 2004, after the ''Moodring'' album, she ended up in a year-long litigation with management. In late 2005, Harrison made a transition within the Universal system from

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

. In 2007 her fourth studio album ''

'' was accidentally released in Japan when the release date changed. At the time, she was with Motown/Universal; her lawyer advised that she not waste time and money taking the issue to court, so Harrison decided to go independent instead.

Independency

At the advice of her mentors

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

and

in 2008, Harrison created an independent label called Planet 9. After parting ways with her major label

, she decided to continue to make music but with a different business approach in mind. So Harrison, created her own label Planet 9, and did different types of deals. Furthermore, she was offered a non-exclusive deal with a Japanese based R&B label Manhattan Recordings after the leakage of her fourth studio album. Through that label and deal Harrison has released ''

'' (2008), '' Sugar & Spice: The Perfect Edition'' (2009), and '' K.I.S.S. (Keep It Sexy & Simple)'' (2011) exclusively in Japan. Subsequently, she continues to release independent projects ''

'' (2014) '' Sweet XVI'' (2014), '' Love Elevation Suite'' (2015), and most recently ''

'' (2016) which received a

grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nomination for

Best R&B Album The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the Contemporary R&B, R&B mus ...

. In honor of her twentieth anniversary, Mýa released her eighth independent project, ''

'' in April 2018.

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (2008) *'' Sugar & Spice: The Perfect Edition'' (2009) *'' K.I.S.S. (Keep It Sexy & Simple)'' (2011) *''

'' (2016) *''

'' (2018)

Mixtape

*'' Beauty & the Streets Vol. 1'' (2009)

EPs

*''

'' (2014) *'' Sweet XVI'' (2014) *'' Love Elevation Suite'' (2015) *''Whine (Dance Mix)'' (2023)

Filmography

Music videos

*Coolin' (2017) * Ready for Whatever (2017) * You Got Me (2018) * G.M.O. (Got My Own) (2018) *With You (2019) *Down (2019) *The Truth (2020) *

Space and Time In physics, spacetime, also called the space-time continuum, is a mathematical model that fuses the three dimensions of space and the one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional continuum. Spacetime diagrams are useful in visualizing ...

(2020) * Worth It (2021) *It's All About Me (25th Anniversary Remix) (2023) *

Whine ''Whine'' is a live album by Scorn, released on October 21, 1997, through Invisible Records. Track listing Personnel * Eraldo Bernocchi – guitar (2-8) *Anthony Burnham – photography *Chris Greene – mastering * Mick ...

(2023)

Winery

*Planet 9 Fine Wine

References

{{Authority control American independent record labels Mýa Record labels established in 2008