Mykel Antoinea Gray (born March 28, 1985
) known by her stage name, Miss Mykie is an American actress, television personality, and recording artist. Miss Mykie is best known for being one-fourth of the new set of hosts of
BET
Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...
's ''
106 & Park'' from October 1, 2012
throughout May 2013.
Shortly thereafter Miss Mykie would start her own show. She is credited with launching and hosting, the first ever Instagram show, "The Tea" on July 15, 2013.
Early life
Born as Mykel Antoinea Gray in
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Colorado.
Gray grew up in a family of seven siblings, where they would put on
talent shows
A talent show is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are performances rather th ...
or pretend to be their own hosts/contestants of their own game shows in their basement.
At the age of 3, she and her family moved to
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
, Texas.
At the age of 13, she began to take an interest in music, in the hopes of becoming a singer-songwriter and even formed an all-girl group while she was a freshman in high school. She recalls, "My dad and brother built a studio in our house that I spent countless hours in."
Shortly after this, her older brother had become her manager and producer, helping her craft a studio album, which was eventually shelved. She began to perform regularly on local shows and opened up for best-known artists such as
Tyrese Gibson
Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978) is an American actor and singer. He released his self-titled debut album in 1998, which featured the single " Sweet Lady", peaking at number twelve on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His second ...
,
Slim Thug
Stayve Jerome Thomas (born September 8, 1980), better known by his stage name Slim Thug, is an American rapper. He initially gained mainstream attention for his contribution to the hit single by rapper Mike Jones, "Still Tippin'". In July 2005, h ...
,
Sean Paul
Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques OD (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican rapper and singer who is regarded as one of dancehall's most prolific artists.
Paul's singles "Get Busy" and "Temperature" topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the ...
, among others.
Shortly after graduating from high school, Gray was accepted to the historically black college,
Howard University
Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...
in Washington, D.C., but in the middle of her first year she faced a major tragedy. Her older brother was killed, a few days before his 23rd birthday,
and this had a profound effect on Gray. Despite the tragedy she joined the Ooh La La Dance Line for Howard's Showtime Marching Band, and became a soror of the Alpha chapter,
Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Gray graduated from Howard University in May 2007 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, in acting.
Career
After graduating from college, Gray taught
theater arts
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
at
Gregory-Lincoln Education Center
Edgar Gregory-Abraham Lincoln Education Center (GLEC) is a K-8 school located at 1101 Taft in the Fourth Ward area of Houston, Texas, United States. Gregory-Lincoln is a part of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) and has a fine arts ...
in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
, Texas from August 2007 until June 2012. She resigned as a middle school teacher to pursue careers in television hosting, acting and music. Gray is also an accomplished singer-songwriter, and in 2012, she recorded her debut studio album. She created an industry buzz with over 1 million YouTube hits this year. Gray officially became one-fourth, of the fourth set of hosts for
BET
Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...
's ''
106 & Park'' alongside
Paigion,
Shorty da Prince
Jordan Johnson (born September 11, 1989), better known by his stage name Shorty da Prince, is an American radio DJ, a rapper, and a television personality. He was one-fourth of the new set of hosts of BET's ''106 & Park'' from October 1, 2012 t ...
and
Bow Wow. They were officially introduced, as the new hosts, on October 1, 2012.
Gray, alongside Johnson and Walker left the show midway through May 2013, with
Angela Simmons
''Run's House'' is an American reality television series that debuted on October 13, 2005. The series chronicles the family life of former Run–D.M.C. rapper and hip-hop music pioneer Joseph Simmons, also known as Rev Run.
Background
The se ...
temporarily replacing them for the remainder of Summer 2013. Miss Mykie is credited with launching and hosting, the first ever
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
show, "The Tea", originating on July 15, 2013. Miss Mykie is presently the Host of "The Drop", a
Russell Simmons
Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. Simmons' ...
production. On December 19, 2014, Mykie makes a triumphant return to BET, hosting the final episode of ''106 & Park'', titled "The Final Act" alongside
Free Marie
Marie Antoinette Wright (born February 7, 1968), better known by her stage name, Free, is an American media personality, television producer, choreographer and philanthropist. She rose to fame as the first host of BET's ''106 & Park''. She was ...
,
Julissa
Julissa (born Julia Isabel de Llano Macedo; 8 April 1944 in Mexico City, D.F., Mexico) is a Mexican actress, producer and singer. She is the daughter of radio and television personality Luis de Llano Palmer and actress Rita Macedo. Her childr ...
,
Rocsi Diaz, and Canadian
Keshia Chante.
Music
*2010: Imma AKA (single)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mykie, Miss
Living people
1985 births
Actresses from Denver
Musicians from Houston
Musicians from Denver
African-American radio personalities
American radio personalities
African-American television personalities
American television personalities
African-American actresses
African-American women musicians
Howard University alumni
21st-century African-American women
21st-century American women