‘I ate kota…I had chicken feet in SA’ – US artist PJ Morton ahead of return to Mzansi

There is more to food than its primary objective of being sustenance.

Food is also an expression of people’s culture and there are a few dishes that epitomise life in a South African Township than a kota, and this is what Grammy –award-winning singer PJ Morton experienced the last time he was in Mzansi.

“I ate kota…I had chicken feet in South Africa,” PJ Morton told The Citizen, during a Zoom interview while in between his North American tour in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“I loved it. I mean it was a lot. First I had to figure out where I wanted to bite first. They brought it to me at the studio. They took my wife to the hood,” he said laughing.

The award-winning musician had the kota experience in Mzansi last year while on tour. During that time, he audaciously created the Cape Town To Cairo album, while on a 30-day trip across Africa.

The album was solely written and recorded on the continent. He is now returning to South Africa to perform at Old Mutual’s Music in the Gardens in Sandton.

“It is quite emotional and quite a full circle moment that less than a year ago, these songs didn’t even exist and they exist because of Africa. So now coming back to Africa and playing these songs that I created right there is like a beautiful story,” averred PJ.

PJ Morton served as Maroon 5’s full-time keyboardist for the past 14 years; he has collaborated with Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, Jon Batiste, Nas, Lil Wayne, JoJo, Yebba, Jill Scott and many others.

The five-time Grammy-winner has been nominated 20 times by the Academy.

ALSO READ: Project Runway SA star Gift Kgosierileng accepted at a prestigious US design school, but short of R700k in fees

Immersed

PJ spent time in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Lagos in Nigeria, Accra in Ghana and Egypt’s Cairo. He said though he noticed the difference in the various cities across Africa, the common thread was how welcomed he felt.

“You notice the differences immediately. I landed in Cape Town first and everybody is so chilled and warm and so welcoming,” he said.

“As soon as we got to Lagos airport it’s like ‘move, go this way’ you know. But the people showed me the same amount of love, I felt as welcomed when I got to Nigeria, it was just shown in a different way.”

ALSO READ: Jazz community mourns death of renowned SA drummer Makaya Ntshoko

Doing it right

Cape to Cairo is to PJ what Graceland was to Paul Simon, except that PJ was immersed in the cultures of the places he visited and made music in.

“It started off as a small idea to collaborate and maybe produce some African artists, but then they asked me if I wanted to do a project involved with African artists. Then I started looking at Graceland and how Paul Simon did it,” said PJ.

The manner in which Simon created the 1986 Graceland which featured a slew of South African artists was seen as culture appropriation.

“I saw the criticism Paul Simon got. He came and got the sauce and took it elsewhere and made a whole different thing. For me, I wanted to take it further and create entirely on the continent and write the songs entirely on the continent. Then it became this big idea, so I said I want to spend time there,” shared PJ.

“We really delved into everything; we try to do as much as we can. We went to the clubs and saw all the DJs and felt that vibe, went [sic] to go to church and seen the vibes there.”

ALSO READ: Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festival a boon for tourism

Collaborative nature

Similar to Stevie Wonder, PJ has grace in music-making which makes it easy for him to collaborate with other artists. He says this stems from his side as a musician and a producer.

“I think it’s because I was a musician first, I was a producer and a songwriter second, all before I was an artist and singer myself. So I think as a producer and a writer, it was always about collaboration and finding the right voice to fit the songs you were writing or producing.  I just never lost that love for bouncing off ideas.”

Some of the featured artists on this project include Nigerian singer-songwriter Fireboy DML, South Africa’s Ndabo Zulu Asa and Soweto Spiritual Singers.

NOW READ: Ziibeats Vol. 2: Uniting Africans through music collaboration