Cover Photo By @dumoarles
MuddyMya started releasing music a little over a year ago to date without much expectation. In her words, āI just make songs and post them.ā Today, the Atlanta native has become a buzzing name in the underground, recently putting out some of her best work to date in the form of āCashin Outā ā a single produced by CashCache and MexikoDro, headed by lyrics including my personal favorite: āLife I neverĀ planned it out, but look how things are panning out.ā
Speaking to Mya, she places large emphasis on the fact that her success thus far has arrived without much expectation ā she works at her craft, makes the best music she can make, and lets the universe do the rest.
And the universe has certainly been responding. With numerous cultural cosigns to her name, a fast-growing fanbase, and a singular, masked aesthetic, Mya is doing things on her own terms and garnering authentic, well-deserved acclaim for it. No over-stretching herself or asking favors ā just genuine support on true-to-self music and a world-building creative vision. 6 months ago, she worked for Target at a job she hated. Today, Mya is fully focused on music, with the path becoming clearer by the day.
āEverything has just been clicking for me ā spontaneously, for one, and quickly, for two [laughs].ā
We had the chance to speak with MuddyMya about working at Target, fashion, āCashin Out,ā anime, and more. Read the full conversation below:
LL: To start off, youāre from Georgia, right ā Stone Mountain?
Yeah, Iām from Atlanta but Stone Mountain is my hometown. Atlanta is where all my friends are and itās where Iām at like every day. People in Atlanta want you to be specific sometimes so thatās why I say Stone Mountain. Itās like the suburbs of Atlanta ā the bus still runs out there but itās more like neighborhoods and homes and stuff. Itās suburban, itās east of Atlanta.
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LL: What does your day to day look like at this point?
First thing is recording and then watching anime. I record all my music at home, I like recording at home a lot.
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LL: Whatās your favorite anime?
My favorite anime is Death Note. If you ever tap into anime, you gotta tap into Death Note, thatās my favorite one.
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LL: Is music a full-time gig for you at this point?
Yeah I worked at Target up until like 6 months ago and I just quit that shit. It was time for it anyways, I hated it. I had a realization that I could really do music and figured out how much money I needed to live and make it happen ā my manager told me to make the jump, too, so I did it. Plus, my Target manager was just an asshole [laughs]. Me and my brother both worked there and he fired my brother saying he was late all the time even though we showed up together and I never got in trouble for being late. So once that happened, I quit.
LL: Did the people at Target know you were making music?
I never told anyone at Target I was making music. One of my coworkers found out, though and showed everyone the āMindblownā video right before I quit.
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LL: Youāve only been releasing music for a little over a year now, and it feels like a lot has happened in such a short amount of time.Ā Whatās your perspective on that? Did you ever expect this kind of response?
My brother and people around me always ask me that ā Iām just kinda shocked. Itās surreal, it doesnāt feel like itās happening to me. Itās like some out of body shit [laughs]. Iām obviously still normal and still have to keep working hard but with stuff like the Pigeons & Planes article, people ask how I did it and Iām like I donāt even know [laughs]. I just make songs and I post them ā I never tried to force a hang out with anybody or ask for anything. Itās all been authentic and genuine which I really like, but I donāt really know how to feel about all of it.
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LL: I think my favorite line in your catalog thus far is from āCashin Outā ā āLife I never planned it out, but look how things are panning out.ā With that last question in mind, can you expand on that line a bit?
Literally thatās how life is. Me and my dad have a weird relationship but heās the kind of person that always wants to have a 5-year plan ā and while I agree to a certain extent on planning, I really donāt like to plan things. Of course if Iām making a music video or something, Iām going to plan because you have to. But when it comes to my life ā if you donāt plan it then it canāt go wrong. If you donāt set expectations and just let things fall into place, youāll never disappoint yourself. So I just let the universe and God give me whatās meant for me, basically. My biggest fear is doing something that I hate with my life so if I donāt plan that out and put that pressure on myself, then it wonāt happen. Thatās just how it is.
LL: āCashin Outā is produced by CashCache and MexikoDro who are both killing it right now. It feels like the plug sound is coming back in a lot of ways.
Which is wild ā the thing about it is that I just so happened to like plug beats and my voice sounds good on them. All m friends say theyāre going to think Iām a plug rapper but I just love Cashās production so it felt really natural.
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LL: How did you and CashCache connect?
That was another spontaneous thing. Iām tapped in with another producer named Popstar Benny. Heās a legend in Atlanta, to be honest. Iām pretty sure Benny showed Cash my music and he fucked with one of the songs I did over a plugg beat ā Iām pretty sure it was āMindblownā ā and he DMāed me. I didnāt see it for months, though, because sometimes my manager checks my DMs and I donāt think he knew who Cash was. So I never saw the DM.
I ended up going to this meeting a few months later and they told me I should connect with CashCache. I ended up randomly checking my DMās and seeing he was in there right after that. I DMāed him back but he didnāt answer so I was just like fuck, I missed it. But then he randomly came into one of my [Instagram] Lives and I told him I DMāed him. He was down to work so he sent me a pack ā in there was the beat for āCashin Out,ā and it was labeled as a collab with MexikoDro who has always been one of my dream collaborations. I clicked on it and fell in love with that beat right away. The whole pack was hard but that one, in particular, was crazy so I just put it on and freestyled over it. If itās meant to happen, the universe just makes it happen.
LL: I wanted to ask about Muddy World, the mask you wear, your cover art, and the whole aesthetic you keep on social media. I love to see artists building a sort of world around their music, so I wanted to ask if thatās something deliberate for you or if things have just kind of naturally led down that lane.
Muddy World and things like that are deliberate but with the cover arts, itās more like weāve just made what we wanted to make for each project. After the second project, though, my manager and I noticed that we had a common direction on the cover arts so we just ran with it. For the mask, I think Iām going to switch that up because COVID kind of ran with that whole swag. I donāt want people to see the mask and have it remind them of something really negative.
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LL: Youāve also gained some traction in the fashion world, it seems like ā one main example was Mowalola following you on Instagram. Can you talk more about that side of things?
When Mowalola followed me, man. That was another moment of just things falling into place like what the fuck?! I donāt even know how she got tapped in, to be honest. Fashion to me is very important so thatās definitely what Iām going towards. Iām still going to be wearing a mask during performances and stuff but Iām going to rework that a little bit, so once I figure out the mask, Iām definitely going to be showing more of my style this year. Itās very punk inspired because I love punk bands and shit, but yeah, fashion is very important to me.
LL: What do you listen to outside of rap?
A lot of Nirvana, mainly. I love how it sounds and just the feeling that they have ā I donāt really care as much about what artists say as long as it sounds good. I listen to a lot of R&B, too ā I listen to a lot of Solange, sheās hard. A lot of house music.
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LL: Has the punk aesthetic always been a big thing for you?
Yeah I had a real emo phase in middle school. Heavy on Paramore, Green Day, Panic! At The Disco. I had a big like ātrying to find myselfā phase where I was listening to those kinds of artists and skateboarding and stuff. My mom was a big Evanescence fan so I grew up listening to that, too. Rap is always my first love and is what I listen to most but those are the other kinds of artists Iāve come up listening to.
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LL: Whatās next for MuddyMya from here?
Next up will be a āCashin Outā video. Outside of that, Iām just really focused on Muddy World and getting that project together.