JayaHadADream – and it’s coming true at Glastonbury Festival

“We’ll see this lot on the Pyramid Stage before too long.”

Fox’s words are huge praise for Jamaican-Irish rapper JayaHadADream and her band, who have just played one of Glastonbury’s five main stages.

Jaya Gordon-Moore, 24, earned her place at the festival by winning its Emerging Talent Competition in April.

Jaya, 24, quit her teaching job in December to pursue her music career. (Image: Newsquest)

The competition – which includes Declan McKenna in its list of winners – is entered by hundreds of acts each year and culminates in a final in Pilton.

Cambridge-born Jaya impressed the judges with her songs Butthurt Men – which she opened her Sunday morning set with – and Force.

The ‘introspective rapper’ – who calls herself a “sociologist at heart” after studying it in Nottingham – was joined on stage by four band members throughout her entertaining and assured set, which implemented garage and rock.

She sang about being stubborn, performed her first love song and described her granny’s love of Twiggy and her youth as a ‘tomboy’ to a growing crowd, who got involved by clapping and waving their arms, despite the early start.

Jaya and her band after winning the Emerging Talent Competition. (Image: Glastonbury Festival)

Between songs, she told the crowd that the dreams she quit her job seven months ago to achieve are becoming a reality.

“It’s my first time at Glastonbury - it’s all of our times at Glastonbury. It’s been on our bucket list for a while,” she said.

“This is a dream come true for real.

“I quit my job in December 2023 as a teacher to pursue music, having no idea what was going to come after that.

“I applied for the Emerging Talent Competition in January, and here we are.”

Before taking to the Woodsies Stage, she had performed at four of Worthy Farm’s smaller venues, including the West Holts and Bread and Roses bars.

“But this is the set that I’ve most been looking forward to,” she said.

“I’ve not performed in anything like it (the vast Woodsies tent) – none of us have.”

You can find Jaya on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram at jayahadadream.