Bingkai Karya– New Orleans musician PJ Morton takes listeners on a journey around Africa with his latest album “Cape Town to Cairo.” This album eleased through his record label Morton Records in collaboration with EMPIRE. PJ wrote his latest album while traveling the African continent for 30 days.
Without any musical drafts, lyrics or expectations, he set foot on the African continent last fall with only a wild dream of making an album in a month. It is a mission to immerse herself into the diverse cultures, stories and communities she encountered.
The album reflects his long journey that started from Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa, to Lagos (Nigeria), Accra (Ghana), Cairo (Egypt), before returning to South Africa. Surprisingly, many of the places he visited for the first time on this journey. “I wanted to capture the feelings I experienced during my time in Africa. Well, I promised myself not to write any draft songs or lyrics before I got to Africa, and vice versa. I won’t write anything after I get home, including finishing my vocal recording,” said PJ Morton.
The Musical Experiment
This was an experiment where he had to trust his musical instincts. Just like many people, PJ Morton also has a tendency to overthink things. Prior to that, this time he wanted to trigger something that had high stakes. The song contains elements of R&B and soul music. There are also songs that have other influences, such as gospel music can be heard in “Simunye.” Also pop elements in “Count On Me,” and jazz in “All The Dreamers.” All of these can be incorporated into an album because of the inspiration PJ got when he came to Africa.
“We didn’t have much time to decide which genre elements would fit into which songs, but ultimately what ties it all together is how it all started in Africa. ‘Cape Town to Cairo’ is a musical diaspora,” PJ Morton explains about his latest album.
