Margaret Bonds described this work as the first choral composition written expressly for the George McClain Chorale. In her own words, "the choir needed a light, gay composition. I knew Langston Hughes poem, ‘Joy’ so well that I whipped out a piece of manuscript paper and started setting the poem right on the counter. In two days I had it finished... The music of ‘Joy’ expresses the joy that I felt in my association with the young conductor who loves music as much as I do".