This month, Mya appears on the cover of A&U Magazine, a national nonprofit HIV/AIDS magazine. The feature, by Sean Black with Quintara “Lady Queen” Lane, covers how Mya is redefining sexy through activism, philanthropy, and music. You can read an excerpt below, the full interview here and click on the preview to see the cover.

In a performance benefiting AIDS, the international superstar succinctly known as Mya quakes the stage with a sultry, liberated zeal. “I’ve got so much confidence, if it were possible I’d share,” raps the Season 9 finalist who waltzed her way into our hearts on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars. The lyrics from her hot new track “Earthquake,” featuring Miami rapper Trina, are self-assured and bold, but, then again, so is her commitment to the battle against HIV.

“Being from a city that has one of the highest rates of [HIV] infection in the country was very alarming to me,” confesses the caring celebrity about Washington, D.C., in a follow-up conversation with AIDS activist Lady Queen Lane [A&U, June 2011] and myself. Her tone is serious and deliberate. “It’s scary. I mean, what do you think these teenagers are doing? Seriously, when kids are bored without access to community centers, or afterschool programs [often due to economics], they sometimes veer off and do things out of boredom that they really shouldn’t be doing.” Her concern sparked action and this philanthropic firestarter implemented sex education into the life skills portion of her program for preteens.