PJ Morton on creativity, Atlanta roots ahead of new album

June 15th, 2026

A man wearing a baseball cap looks to the right — PJ Morton, the GRAMMY-winning singer-songwriter behind the new album "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning." (Courtesy of PJ Morton)

Ahead of the release of his new double album “Saturday Night, Sunday Morning,” GRAMMY-winning singer-songwriter PJ Morton shared the habits and detours that keep his work fresh.

For Morton, the cure for a creative block is often simple: leave. That instinct took him across four countries while making his 2025 live album, “Cape Town to Cairo,” recorded over 30 days in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Egypt.

The need for distance also shows up in how Morton spends his downtime. He’s constantly watching documentaries. Gracie Otto’s 2021 “Under the Volcano,” the story of the Montserrat island studio where musicians such as Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Sting recorded, is a favorite. He also turns to shows such as “Your Friends & Neighbors” and “Hacks” for a creative reset.

“I need some type of something that takes me into another world… so I can be creative,” Morton said. “I can’t just constantly be bombarded with my own art. So I have to have these distractions.”

Stepping back was part of what led Morton to write and record “Saturday Night, Sunday Morning.” After years of R&B records — and a gospel album of his own in 2020 — he produced “Heart of Mine,” a 2026 Best Gospel Album GRAMMY winner, with collaborator Darrell Walls. The experience inspired Morton to bring both sides of his music together for the first time.

Morton’s Atlanta roots

Morton’s connection to Atlanta goes back to his college years at Morehouse, where during his junior year he landed his first song placement on India.Arie’s 2002 album “Voyage to India.” His first tour after graduating was with Erykah Badu, an experience that shaped him as an artist.

“I had total writer’s block the whole tour, but I realized halfway through, ‘I’m supposed to be living. I’m supposed to be experiencing this and being present in order to write something new,’” Morton said.

Decades later, Atlanta is also where his son now attends Morehouse and recently crossed into the same fraternity — something Morton called a “full circle moment.”

When he’s back in town, his stops are about food he can’t get at home in New Orleans.

“You know, it sounds probably crazy to someone being in Atlanta, but we always hit Benihana. That’s something that we’ve been taking my son to since he was a little kid,” Morton said. “Sometimes I got to get my pizza from Mellow Mushroom. These are places that I don’t have locally. You know what I’m saying? So I just want to have them sometimes.”

PJ Morton’s new double album, “Saturday Night, Sunday Morning,” comes out June 19.