PJ Morton he is a man who wears many hats. The multiple Grammy Award winner produces, records, writes and has defined many movements within African American music. Oscillating between genres that included pop, R&B, funk and gospel, the New Orleans native managed to reinvent himself in his two decades of musical service. Cape Town to Cairowhich is Morton’s latest album, builds on the musician’s ethos of inventive turn and collaboration.
Here, Morton takes us through the album, from its conceptual origins to how its nine songs came together, in sections lightly edited for length and clarity.
Photo by Cedric Tang.
PJ Morton and his team in Accra, Ghana.
PJ Morton:Cape Town to Cairo is an album I created on a 30-day trip to Africa. From Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa to Lagos, Nigeria, Accra, Ghana, Cairo, Egypt and back to South Africa. I wanted to capture the emotions I felt while I was on the continent, so I promised myself that I wouldn’t write anything before I got to Africa and I wouldn’t write anything after I left – I ended up recording all my vocals before I left too.
It was really an experiment in trusting my instincts. I have a tendency to overthink, like many of us, so I wanted to spark something that had real stakes. What ended up happening was that all my raw thoughts and influences came out at once. There’s R&B and soul of course, but there’s also gospel in songs like “Simunye”, pop in “Count On Me”, jazz in “All The Dreamers”, all combined with African inspiration. We didn’t have the luxury of time to check which genres would fit where, and the origins of all this music started in Africa anyway. Cape Town to Cairo it’s the diaspora in musical form, done my way.
“Smoke & Mirrors”
PJ Morton – Smoke & Mirrors (Official Video)
We landed in Lagos, Nigeria Fela Kutihis birthday. We immediately went to the shrine at Celebration, which is an annual festival in his memory. The next day, I went to the studio and I was still feeling those vibes I heard the night before. Me, my drummer Ed and my bass player got in a room and played the groove. I wrote the lyrics over the next few days. He has Fela’s fighting spirit. I was experiencing the opposite of what people told me about Africa. It’s also about my journey in the music industry. I added the horns after New Orleans, because it felt like the connection of Africa to New Orleans.
Photo by Cedric Tang.
PJ Morton and his team work in a studio in Lagos.
“Count On Me” feat. Fireboy DML
PJ Morton – Count On Me ft. Fireboy DML (Official Lyric Video)
I wanted to write something that could speak to the world as a whole. I feel like there is so much negativity right now and something positive could be refreshing. This song also talks about the power of friendship. I sat down at the piano in Cape Town, South Africa and started playing the verse on the piano. While in Nigeria, I left it Fireboy [DML] he heard the idea and thought of his verse right there on the spot.
Photo by Cedric Tang.
Fireboy DML working on “Count On Me” in a studio in Lagos.
“Please be nice”
PJ Morton – Please Be Good (Official Video)
I wrote it on my first day in the studio in Nigeria. I took so much from my experience and I think I just wanted to create an escapist atmosphere, something that takes the listener to another place. I linked up with producer P. Priime in the studio to do this with me.
“Who You Are” Feat. Made Kuti
PJ Morton – Who You Are ft. Mádé Kuti (Official Lyric Video)
I love the high life. That puts me in that feeling. The lyrics were me speaking to myself and to many of us whose ancestors came out of Africa. Being on the continent had that in mind for me. Another one played live in the studio.
“Thanks”
PJ Morton – Thank You (Official Video)
I’ve always wanted to write a song that says thank you. I like to say thank you. It’s such a simple phrase but it holds so much weight. I just wanted to create a setting for that feeling. Also, as I took this trip I was in a state of gratitude. We recorded it mainly in South Africa and linked up with South African producer Xivonaki Manzini, who became a key collaborator on the album.
“I found you”
PJ Morton – I Found You (Official Lyric Video)
This is a tune I’ve had in my head for quite some time, but never really did anything with it. Wherever I am, I’m still a love song writer. Even in Africa. So I was not surprised that this idea came up. I sat down at the piano and wrote what love was like at that moment. It sounded like a wedding song and I added strings when I got back to New Orleans. Most of these I worked on in Cairo, Egypt.
Photo by Cedric Tang.
A photo of PJ Morton in Cairo, Egypt.
“All the Dreamers” feat. Asa & Ndabo Zulu
PJ Morton – All The Dreamers ft. Aṣa & Ndabo Zulu (Official Lyric Video)
In a rush to write the entire album in 30 days, I looked everywhere for inspiration. I went to splice and listened to this vocal sample and it sparked an idea immediately. We got into a room and played the idea live. Then I went to Lagos and met Like. She used to cook for us at her house there. I let her hear the ideas I had worked on and she liked that one. So I left it with her. We converted the sample into new words. The night before I finished, I started writing lyrics for the chorus. It is about the underdog who is underestimated but fights his way to success and achieves his dreams. He sent me the rest. It has such a cool Afro-Cuban vibe. Then I got Ndabo Zulu to play trumpet on it. I love the way we worked it in all the different parts of Africa.
“Home Again”
PJ Morton – Home Again (Official Lyric Video)
It was our last day in Lagos and I hadn’t worked yet The Cavemen. They finally had time last night. So after working all day in the studio, we drove to their home studio. As soon as I walked in, Kingsley got on the bass and started playing the song line. I took keys and put chords on it. I wrote the chorus right there on the spot. We had all just met. I took it with me and wrote the rest in Egypt. It felt like home.
Photo by Cedric Tang.
PJ Morton works with a producer in the studio in Johannesburg.
“Simunye (We Are One)” feat. Soweto Spiritual Singers
PJ Morton – Simunye (We Are One) [Official Video] (feat. Soweto Spiritual Singers)
I wrote this on my second day in Africa. I was in Cape Town, South Africa, and I guess I felt the pride of belonging to something bigger than myself. I knew I wanted to write a call and response that felt like a hymn or hymn. I asked my great friend Jonathan Butler if there was a local word to describe something that could be this. He gave me ‘Simunye’. After he gave me the floor, the whole song came right there. Also realizing all that South Africa had been through with apartheid and on the 30th anniversary of iteverything hit me.
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