Today with the release of a project unlike anything he’s ever done before, PJ Morton takes listeners on a journey from Cape Town to Cairo. Out now via Morton Records/EMPIRE, the phenomenal album is to Morton what ‘Graceland’ was to Paul Simon, except that the 5x Grammy winner recorded his LP on a 30-day odyssey across Africa.
With no preconceptions, he arrived at the continent last fall with the sole dream to make a record in a month, and an intent to absorb as many differing cultures, stories and communities as much as he could. Reminiscing on his travels, from Cape Town and Johannesburg to Lagos, Accra, Cairo and back to South Africa.
“I wanted to capture the emotions I felt while I was on the continent, so I made a promise that I wouldn’t write anything before I arrived in Africa, and I wouldn’t write anything after I left – I ended up recording all my vocals before I left too. It really was an experiment in trusting my instincts.
I have the ability to overthink as many of us do, so I wanted to spark something that had real stakes. What ended up happening was that all of my raw thoughts and influences came out all at once. There’s of course R&B and Soul, but there’s also gospel songs in ‘Simunye’, pop in ‘Count On Me’, jazz on ‘All The Dreamers,’ all combined with the inspiration of Africa. We didn’t have the luxury of time to police which genres would fit where, and the origins of all these music started in Africa anyway. Cape Town to Cairo is the diaspora in music form, done my way.”
While collaborating with featured artists like Fireboy DML, Mádè Kuti, Asa, Ndabo Zulu and Soweto Spiritual Singers, producers like p.prime and The Cavemen, his own live band and local musicians, Cape Town to Cairo finds PJ Morton utilizing music as a universal language. New Orleans meets Lagos on “Smokes & Mirrors”, whilst “Please Be Good” and “Simunye (We Are One) ft. The Soweto Spiritual Singers celebrating traditional sounds and the fulfillment of belonging to a great purpose.
Whether the song was recorded in one spell, or recorded across multiple countries, as it was for the Asa & Ndado Zulu feature “All The Dreamers”, Morton’s headspace of gratitude is constant. On “Count On Me” he and Fireboy DML, speak to the world as a unified body, with an inspiring message about the potency of friendship and unity.
Listen to Cape Town to Cairo via Morton Records/Empire here:
https://music.empi.re/capetowntocairo
