Janani K. Jha, the TuneCore Accelerator/SPIN Artist of the Month, has known for a long time that her first album would be a concept album. “The albums that I fell in love with growing up all told stories that way—I remember looping Marianas Trench’s Masterpiece Theater and Pink Floyd’s The Wall and dreaming about creating my own world like that one day,” says the 26-year-old Indian-American singer-songwriter, who grew up in the Bay Area.
In December, Jha will release her debut, along with a companion novel, that realizes some of her lofty ambitions as a songwriter and a storyteller. “The Rest of the Laurels is a concept album inspired by Greco-Roman mythology,” she says. Fans have already heard part of the story through recent “nerd-pop” singles like “Royal We,” and will now get to hear it within its proper context. “I have been so blown away by the love on that song recently; it’s so special to me when people find these slivers of the story, because ‘Royal We,’ like every song on the project, is just one chapter of a larger narrative.”
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Jha already led a pretty fascinating life before launching her music career. In high school, she got into competitive punning, and became the youngest winner of the Pun-Off World Championships at 17. Her debut single “Achilles Heel,” released under the name J. Maya, went viral on TikTok in 2021. She graduated from Harvard University, but decided to not continue her studies at Harvard Law School in order to focus on making music. And in 2023, she competed in the 45th season of the long-running CBS reality series Survivor.
“I would say that my life experiences have taught me how to conduct myself in intense, competitive environments. To me, grit is crucial to possess as an artist,” Jha says. As a champion of puns, she’s also become adept at toying with the sound and meaning of words in her lyrics. “I try to incorporate my love for wordplay as much as I can. I’ve always admired songwriters who know how to play expertly with words in their songs—Sabrina Carpenter comes to mind, as well as so many incredible rap artists.”
Self-releasing her music through TuneCore has been instrumental in allowing Jha to try out big audacious ideas, like a concept album with a novel, without having to convince a label that it will work. “Being able to completely control my career from a creative perspective means everything to me,” she says. “TuneCore has been so wonderful in supporting my artistic vision. I love getting to work with their team and just knowing they’re always there to lend a helping hand.”
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