Multi-Grammy-Award-winning American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer, and pop rock band Maroon 5 keyboardist PJ Morton has announced his upcoming return to South Africa.
With three back-to-back dates in South Africa across three cities in September, Morton’s return to the country follows his sold out concerts last October. This whilst he was recording his album now titled Cape Town To Cairo.
The Africa leg of his Cape Town To Cairo Tour will see him live in South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya. According to the musician, this comes after the inspiration he got while he was in the continent in 2023.
Inspired by his first visit to the continent
“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,” he said.
He visited many places, from Cape Town and Johannesburg to Lagos (Nigeria), Accra (Ghana), Cairo (Egypt). Then back down to South Africa again. Most of these places and countries he was visiting for the very first time. Reflecting on his travels – Morton said he has the ability to overthink as many people do.
Origins of all this music started in Africa
“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 in songs like Simunye. There’s 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 this music started in Africa anyway. Cape Town to Cairo is the diaspora in music form, done my way.”
