JJ Hairston

Gospel singer James "JJ" Hairston guides Youthful Praise as its leader, chief songwriter, and director. The choir specializes in exuberant, urban-tinged gospel and praise & worship songs. It originated in 2001 at Turner's Faith Temple in Bridgeport, Connecticut, initially under the name Teens of TFT. That same year the group issued its debut album, Awesome God, through Evidence Gospel. A follow-up project, Thank You for the Change, reached listeners in 2004 and included a guest appearance by Coko; the next release, Live! The Praise...The Worship, came out one year later in 2005.

Appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Bobby Jones Gospel, together with live collaborations alongside Joan Osborne, Shirley Caesar, and Destiny's Child, broadened the choir's audience, further supported by its energetic stage presence and urban leanings. Exalted, captured live in Baltimore, Maryland, surfaced on both CD and DVD in 2007. Five years passed before After This arrived in spring 2012, with I See Victory following in 2014. The 2016 single "You Deserve It" announced the next full-length effort from Hairston and Youthful Praise. Titled You Deserve It, the album arrived in March 2017 and showcased contributions from Maranda Willis, Travis Greene, and Bishop Cortez Vaughn. Hairston issued the full-length Miracle Worker in 2019.