Meet JayaHadADream – the winners of the 2024 Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition

nme.com:

JayaHadADream has spoken to NME about how it feels to have won a coveted slot at Glastonbury this summer after winning the festival’s 2024 Emerging Talent Competition.The Cambridge born Jamaican-Irish artist came out on top of the eight acts in a live final at Pilton’s Working Men’s Club this weekend (Saturday April 27) after already beating thousands of online entries.

The rapper won over a judging panel – including Glasto boss Emily Eavis, industry professionals and Glastonbury main stage bookers – with her high-energy thought-provoking hip-hop.

Now, she’ll be performing alongside the likes of Coldplay, Dua Lipa, SZA, Shania Twain, IDLES, The National, Disclosure, and many more.“It feels completely surreal also heartwarming and reassuring,” she explained just moments after winning the slot on one of Glasto’s main stages, along with a £5,000 PRS Foundation development prize. “There are so many emerging artists doing amazing things, so to feel this seen and heard in such a busy climate is incredible, especially in hip-hop where women are so underrepresented.”JayaHadADream performed two songs on the night, including her 2022 single ‘Force’ which tackles themes of teenage angst and social issues. “The verses are all about day to day life growing up in an impoverished area,” she explained. “Cambridge is known to be academic and wealthy but actually the surrounding areas are really quite deprived so I drew from that.”Continued: “It’s supposed to be empowering for young people who may not feel heard.

The message is to keep going and that one day you will feel stronger. The song was so poignant for me and my career and it’s a mantra I live by.