PJ Morton is a renown American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. The five-time Grammy winner based in New Orleans recently released a new album, Cape Town to Cairo, inspired by his 30-day trip to several countries in Africa.
For 30 days, PJ Morton travelled from Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa to Lagos, Nigeria, Accra, Ghana to Cairo, Egypt, to immerse himself in as many different cultures, stories and communities as he could.
In his African-inspired album, PJ Morton has featured artists like Fireboy DML, Mádé Kuti, Asa, Ndabo Zulu, and Soweto Spiritual Singers, and more, using music as his greatest common language.
PJ Morton is coming to Africa as part of Cape to Cairo tour in September with 15th September as the event date for Nairobi.
We spoke to PJ Morton to get to know more about his latest project, his collaborations and plans for the future.
Briefly take me through your music journey since you went professional till now
Well, I went professional at a very early age, 15 years old, so it’s been a long journey. I started out just wanting to play keyboards, but I placed my first song as a songwriter at 16. So I just continued to write until that got me to the mainstream when I went to college in Atlanta, worked with N.D.R.E., and that really started my journey.
I worked with Jermaine Dupri and Monica and so many R&B artists, and then I decided to start my journey as an artist, and that got me to build a very loyal following until I met up with the guys of Maroon 5 and joined the band. Now I have been able to see success with both the band and myself, having won five Grammys solo to my own name, so it has been a journey.
What inspired you to travel to Africa to make music?
Part of it was personal for me. I felt like something was there for me in Africa, especially being a black American, I knew my roots were there. But aside from personal reasons, I knew I was looking for inspiration and knew I could find something refreshing there, something new that I had not felt before. Before we left for Africa, I decided I wanted to make a new album entirely while being on the continent.
Tell me about the Cape to Cairo albums and the choice of collaborators?
This was an album I wrote and recorded over 30 days across four countries in Africa. We went to South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and Egypt, and in each place I experienced the culture, met the people, and worked on music there. We had studios in each country.
Um, the inspiration came from the different places we visited. With the collaborators, that all happened really organically because they had to buy into the concept of the 30-day experiment as well, because I did not want them writing anything new after I left either. So we just met and clicked. I have collaborated with amazing artists from Africa on the album including Fireboy DML, The Cavemen, Asha, Dabo Zulu, Soweto Spiritual Singers and Made Kuti, grandson to Fela Kuti.
Are there plans to work with East African musicians now that they are missing from the Africa collabo album?
Um, well, there is a little East African on there. There is a sample of Sofiya Nzau’s melody on All The Dreamers. Um, you know, uh, I found that on Splice when I was working on the album. I was looking for inspiration from everywhere. We realized it was Sofiya. But I am hoping to do more with East Africans, especially when Kenya in I visit the country and get to meet some of the artists and feel some of the vibes there.
Tell me about your Africa tour and what fans can look forward to?
I am really excited about the tour. We are about to start in America right now, but I’m coming with my band Afro Orleans, an 11-piece band with full horns, and my singers as well. We will play new music from the new album Cape Town to Cairo. I am also going to play some of the old favorites. So it’s going to be a lot of energy, a lot of good music. We’re going to bring that soul music.
What is your all-time favourite music collaboration and why?
I mean, I’d have to say my favorite collaboration is Stevie Wonder on my song Be Like Water. He is one of my heroes and he’s really the reason I am doing music. To have a duet with him where I’m singing side by side with Stevie Wonder is beyond my dreams. I never dreamed that that could really come true. So that’s definitely at the top of my list.
Which is the best country that you have ever performed in and why?
The best country. Wow. That is, really tough to pick. I get love in so many places all around the world. That is really a tough one. We love when people sing along with us, you know, every lyric and shout back to us, but that really happens in so many places. But I will say Korea. Seoul, Korea is definitely a place where I remember me and the band being shocked by how loud they were and how much energy they were giving us.
What are your future plans as a musician? Second Africa collabo maybe?
Absolutely many more collaborations in Africa. You know, I look at Africa as home now, so I plan to do a lot more there. But aside from that, we have my memoir coming out. My new book is coming out on November 12th. It is currently available for pre-order now on Amazon and it’s called Saturday night, Sunday morning. The book is really my life story and how I have gotten to this place today. We are working on the documentary as well, our 30 days in Africa, so hopefully that will be coming out soon as well.