Monday, March 18, 2024

J.J. Hairston of Youthful Praise Talks New Book, New Music & Importance of Stellar Awards [EUR Exclusive]

J.J. Hairston

*Two-time Stellar Award winner J.J. Hairston & Youthful Praise gains another achievement with their first ever #1 Billboard Top Gospel Airplay Chart with his smash hit single, “You Deserve It.” This is the first release on Hairston’s new recording label, JamesTown Music. The resonating song of worship has topped Billboard Magazine’s Gospel Digital Sales chart at #1 for 9 weeks.

Hairston is also the director of music and arts at City of Praise Ministries in Hyattsville, MD, and he and his wife Trina are in the process of releasing a relationship book, “Amazing Love,” due Spring 2017.

EUR/Electronic Urban Report caught up with the performer to discuss the new book, his Stellar Award nomination and his new album.

Check out our Q&A below.

READ RELATED STORY: Hezekiah Walker, Shirley Caesar, and More Show Out at 32nd Annual Stellar Awards

J.J. Hairston
Photo source: Twitter.com

For our readers who may not be familiar with your work, tell us how the Lord has called you into spreading the word through song?

JJ: The way that I got into Gospel music is a lot less traditional. Everyone else probably has a much more spiritual answer for this question. For me, I’m from Brooklyn, New York. I was born and raised there and then we eventually moved to Connecticut. My mother was in the church — she was everything music, so by the time we got to Connecticut, I was tapped out. I didn’t want to be a part or see any choir. But she joined the church in Bridgeport and there was a choir and a girl in the choir that I wanted to get with. So I joined the choir. That’s how I got connected into music, and the choir was an amazing choir at the time, but that wasn’t even the reason I got in the choir. I later married this young lady and we’ve been married 22 years this year. Her name is Trina, and just seeing her changed my life. That choir was just a teen choir at the church at the time. That choir became Youthful Praise, and here we are today. I basically started directing and writing for the choir, and then I became the leader of the choir and then here we are today. We’ve made seven albums. “You Deserve It” is our eighth, it was just released. We’ve been on a successful run only because I saw that girl.

And now you and this amazing woman are set to drop a relationship book, “Amazing Love.”

JJ: We’re releasing a book called “Amazing Love” because after we got married, I had no idea what marriage was like. I didn’t know what I was doing, neither did she. Our first ten years were terrible. We were separated, we were on our way to divorce and eventually, I really believe I had a conversation with God about what I should do with my life and Trina was in the middle of it. Everything revolved around my relationship with my wife, and I believe God told me that if you want favor, she is your favor. So I got my relationship back with Trina and then that year, things really started happening for Youthful Praise. So again, so many transitions started with my relationship with my wife.

The theme of the book shares our experience but we’re also looking to target and speak to couples who are either just getting married or are married and having some trouble in their marriage. We really want to tell them how you can make it out of it, and some of the things that we’ve done and we’ve had to do to transition our marriage. Now we’ve gone from divorce court to counseling marriages. So we’ve learned so much and in the process we’re hoping that some of the things we’ve learned we will be able to share so everyone won’t have to go through the same things we had to go through.

Your latest single, “You Deserve It,” — what an amazing track. Can you talk a bit about what life events inspired the song’s conception, and what it means to you.

JJ: Well you know what’s so funny, I was doing a concert in Kansas City, Missouri, and there was a guy who was singing the song before I got up. And it was more like a chant, it wasn’t fully complete yet. It was a quick one line at the time, and before he could even get off the stage, I said, “You gotta let me record that song.” So he said yes, and I added to it to make it the full song you hear now. I think the same feeling that I had when I first heard it, I think that’s the feeling everyone else is having. Because it’s just a song that connects with everyone. You don’t have to be a gospel music lover, it’s something that just moves you when you hear it. So that’s why I knew I wanted to record it because it’s something that crosses generations, crosses faiths and it’s just simply between you and God. Whatever you believe, however you believe, that’s where the connection is in this song.

Overall, what sort of themes do you and the Youthful Praise prefer to explore in your work?

JJ: Many of the songs that are a blessing to me, bless other people for the same reason. For example, there’s a song called “There Will Be Glory After This,” that we released earlier but we also re-released on this current CD because it was a big song for us. That song came to me when my mother was diagnosed with cancer. Now at the time, the song was basically a hope song. I was singing the song in hope that my mom would be truly delivered from cancer and healed from it. She did pass from cancer, however, there’s so many different cancer survivors that come to me that say that was their theme song when they were going though chemo, when they were going through all the different things that they have to go through in the process of surviving cancer. So even though my mom passed from it, it still speaks to people who are dealing with that. So I really believe that some of the songs that I get, even though I deal with it on a smaller scale, or any type of scale, it still reaches people who are dealing with that same thing. So my testimony is really a blessing to those who hear it because we put it to music.

youthful praise director
JJ Hairston at 2017 Stellar Awards. (Photo Credit: Earl Gibson, Courtesy of Central City Productions/TV One; Arnold Turner, Courtesy of Central City Productions/TV One; Maury Phillips, Courtesy of Central City Productions/TV One)

You’re a previous Stellar Award winner, and you’ve earned two Stellar nominations for the single “You Deserve It.”

JJ: This is the first time we’ve ever been nominated for a song. We’ve been nominated for records. We have several nominations for records, we won last year for Contemporary Choir of the Year, but this year we’re being nominated for a song. We were nominated before the record even dropped because of how great the song has been responded to.

Are awards such as this, or even just the acknowledgment, just as important as the work you put out?

JJ: I think the Stellar Awards are just a feel good acknowledgment from the industry recognizing what you’ve contributed. What we do for our listeners and our supporters, the music that we put out, can never been truly reflective of what the awards are saying. Cause at the end of the day I know that the listeners and the supporters have somewhat of a vote but that’s really voted upon by the radio announcers and those who are part of the Sagma organization. It’s really great to be acknowledged by them but I still don’t quantify that as this is what our people are saying. Our people support us all the time by buying CD’s, coming to the concerts and even sharing testimonies and sending us emails talking about how our songs are blessing them, that’s really a true reflection of the work we’re doing, as far as ministry concerned. Now in the industry, absolutely it feels great to be embraced and accepted by the Stellar Awards organization and we will never take that lightly.

Do you ever wonder why God chose you to do what you do?

JJ: I do wonder that but I know the answer right away. I think he chose me because I know for a fact that I’m not talented enough, I’m not a great enough singer that people would be captivated by me, so everything I do, everything I say, it always goes to God — all the credit, all the praise, always goes to him. And I’m not saying I’m terrible but I know the impact we’ve had. There’s so many more talented people who could have that same type of impact but they don’t. I really believe it’s because God knows, through me, he’ll get all the glory and he’ll get all the praise. So he keeps enlarging my platform, letting more people be invited to what I do cause I’m always going to give him the praise for it.

Tune in to The Stellar Awards on TV One Sunday, April 9 at 7 p.m. ET with encores at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET. In addition, the Stellar Awards will air in national broadcast syndication on 170 stations in over 150 markets around the country from April 15 – May 7, 2017. 

J.J.’s group earned two Stellar Gospel Award nominations for “You Deserve It,” in the categories of Song of the Year and Urban/Inspirational Single or Performance of the Year.

Have a listen to the amazing track via the player below:

 

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