Happiness from Agony – JayaHadADream Project Review

JayaHadADream teased her prodigiousness after winning the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition in 2024 and making her debut at the festival the same year. Now she presents her debut mixtape Happiness from Agony; the first totem of her sonic manifesto, Jaya consolidates a sound that is soulful, thoughtful, and animated. 

The tape opens strongly with ‘State of the World’. Underpinned by crunchy drums and a harp sample put together by long-time collaborator Zoutr, Jaya comfortably drives home her command of the English language early doors. However, the next three tracks; ’The Bank’, ‘Repackaged ft. Capo Lee’, and ‘Hideout ft. Frisco’, come across like exercises in proving Jaya’s versatility, but feel jammed-in amongst the more unified sound of the other tunes. 

‘Bug’ gets us back on track, where the efficient wordplay of “one of the coldest writers but man don’t say it cause I’ve got vagina” exemplifies her shrewd defiance. 

‘Yoga ft. Keeya Keys’ has Jaya’s reserved braggadocio over an instrumental where the 808 bubbles beneath smoky samples. This aloof hardness is a sweet spot that Jaya hits consistently, and hits well. Keeya Keys adopts a trance-inducing flow which is arguably the most pleasing rhythmic moment of all.

‘Main Characters ft. Big Zuu’ is my favourite track on the tape. Jerky drum patterns provide the foundation to Big Zuu and Jaya’s energetic verses. She exhibits unpredictable, facetious wordplay, spitting “grind for my unborn daughter, got my backpack on like Dora, man still want me senora” and “these man ain’t got spice they’re Korma, I’m the cream of the crop and the best from my block, so I know for doubters its torture.”  

The matter-of-fact hook on ‘If It Ain’t ft. Coops’ references the constant emotional load our loved ones exert on us. Coops drops didactic bars with an effortlessness synergetic to the beat. In fact, both rap from places of wisdom. In Jaya’s verse she recasts improved visions of the powerholders in society; “I like men who protect women not just when they have girls, I like teachers who teach, and not teachers who tell, I like leaders who have values and not lead us to hell”. Her musings display a striking reflective maturity from beyond her years, which is also apparent on ‘At The Abbey’. Here Cambridge is put on the map by combining an archaic sense of place with Jaya’s history; her youth, come-up, and current success. 

The closing track ‘Nothing’s Changed’, although the first single to be released, functions as a summarizer of the tape’s thematic material. The beat audibly embodies the, sometimes, suffocating effect of 21^st century life. Yet, the catharsis comes from Jaya rapping against this – against familial guilt, financial struggles, and the existential free-for-all to understand our place in the world. 

Aside from an early lull in the track listing, JayaHadADream presents a cohesive sonic signature with the authenticating lineage of soul and jazz samples mediating the choppy unpredictability of grime rhythms. Overwhelmingly, her voice seems to be one of pensive resistance; not necessarily to or from any political wing, but in response to the general currents that push back against young women’s creative struggle in the contemporary UK. A mark of true potential for a young artist, music with such intention only stimulates excitement for what comes next. 

4/5

Words by Charlie Edmondson