A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
How many people slink into church on Sunday morning after getting a little wild on Saturday night? That you? Oh, don't worry. I'm sure it's all forgiven. With that in mind, singer PJ Morton splits his latest collection of songs, one-half sacred, one-half secular. Or better yet, one for the party...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DON'T GIVE UP ON US")
PJ MORTON: (Singing) I'm so sorry. You know that I need you.
MARTÍNEZ: ...And one for the penance.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BLESS HIS NAME")
MORTON: (Singing) Oh, bless His name. Oh, bless His name.
MARTÍNEZ: His new double album is called "Saturday Night/Sunday Morning." PJ Morton, welcome to the show.
MORTON: Yeah, thanks for having me. Good to be here.
MARTÍNEZ: PJ, I'm sure there's going to be some people that are going to think, well, you know what? Those two sides should not coexist ever.
MORTON: (Laughter) Right.
MARTÍNEZ: So who made that rule? I mean, where did that rule come from?
MORTON: I don't know, man. I'm here to break it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SELL MY SOUL")
MORTON: (Singing) No matter how hard you try, you can't have control. This I promise you, I'll never sell my soul.
This has kind of been, you know, a lifelong journey for me, you know, growing up a preacher's kid and hearing about the secular, you know, devil's music and whatnot. And as I grew up and fell in love with Stevie Wonder and Al Green and Donny Hathaway, it started to get confusing. My dad even said, you know, I wasn't listening to "Amazing Grace" when I was courting your mother, you know? And so love is biblical, you know?
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. Saturday and Sunday, to me, I think, always go together. And the reason why is because I had an uncle, PJ, who would go out on Saturday night. And he'd come home, like, at 5 in the morning on Sunday, right? But he would be ready to go to church right at 8 o'clock, like, without fail.
MORTON: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: And one time after years, I'd ask him, why do you even go to church on Sundays anymore? And he would tell me this. He would say it in Spanish. (Speaking Spanish), which means, how am I going to get forgiven for what I did Saturday if I don't go to church on Sunday?
(LAUGHTER)
MARTÍNEZ: So to me, I think it makes sense that both Saturday and Sunday are mixed together in the way you did it.
MORTON: Yeah. But for me, it's been the Black experience to work hard all week, a lot of times on a job you don't even want to be at, right? And then Saturday, you decompress. But then you always culturally needed that Sunday for community and, you know, most times church, to, you know, recharge for that week that's coming again. So I just think they naturally roll together.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALWAYS ON TIME")
MORTON: (Singing) My whole life, you never failed me yet, oh. When I'm stuck in a mess, I sometimes forget. And you may not come exactly when I like, but you're always on time, oh.
MARTÍNEZ: So I'm wondering. You said you're a preacher's son. I mean, was there any - I mean, have you felt it in your life, like, the pressure not to, like, escape those bounds in a way?
MORTON: I was a believer, and I was writing gospel music. Gospel music gave me my start as a songwriter and a producer. But I knew as an artist I didn't want to be a gospel artist. First, I didn't want to be a preacher. So, like, that was bad.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
MORTON: That was some pushback in the house. I'm like, Dad, I don't want to follow in your footsteps. I don't want to be a pastor. And then I'm like, you know, I don't even want to sing gospel music (laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: Oh.
MORTON: And then so, like any parents - I was probably 13, you know, 14 - any parents, they just thought I was a preacher's kid rebelling.
MARTÍNEZ: Oh, yeah, yeah.
MORTON: But I think the more they saw, like, having success in R&B music, of course, and pop music with Maroon 5, they became my No. 1 supporters after that.
MARTÍNEZ: How do you muster up that courage to tell your preacher father that you don't want to be a preacher and you don't want to sing gospel music? I mean, man.
MORTON: That's why it's no question in my mind that this was purpose for me, you know, like, because I was trying my best to just please him, you know, do Christian records, do gospel records.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
MORTON: And I had gotten to the end of that, like, OK, I can't fake anymore. And I knew in myself, like, I'm going to do this regardless of whether he approves or not. But, man, it would be good if he approved, you know? So for me to do that, I knew it was a real thing for me. And probably that was probably signal to him, like, oh, if he's doing this, he must - this must be serious, so let me listen.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "USED TO BE")
MORTON: (Singing) My momma told me keep them out your business. I tried my best to keep it all between us. 'Cause everybody don't want to see you happy. Now it's not all it's cracked up to be without me.
MARTÍNEZ: You're not just a solo artist. You mentioned Maroon 5.
MORTON: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: You know, you're - actually, we caught you while you're on tour with them right now.
MORTON: That's right.
MARTÍNEZ: I don't know. I've seen a Maroon 5 show, and it can get a little sexually charged, I mean, sometimes.
MORTON: Yeah. Sure.
MARTÍNEZ: I mean, fans go a little crazy for Adam Levine. I mean, do you have to go find a church somewhere after some of those shows?
(LAUGHTER)
MORTON: No, man. I mean, sex isn't bad, you know, first of all. Yeah, there are some sexual songs. I mean, I got here some way.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
MORTON: So but for me, it's also my job. I'm a musician, you know?
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
MORTON: I think, you know, I've never let myself be boxed in by that. And those Maroon 5 shows are amazing. Those are my brothers, man. And I feel just fine (laughter)...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
MORTON: ...After those shows, yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FEELING FREE")
MORTON: (Singing) You give me freedom. The sins of the world, I don't need them. In Your spirit, I have found liberty. There's no feeling like being free.
MARTÍNEZ: I read that you were searching for, why I wanted to make music this time around...
MORTON: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: ...When it comes to this double album. So, PJ, a bit of a blunt question here. Isn't making music what you do? And if it is, why were you searching?
MORTON: Up to this point, you know, I don't know how anybody else does it, but up to this point, I'm literally inspired to make things, you know? Like, I have to be inspired. And I think once you get to album 10, you know, not including Maroon albums, you know, and all these other things I've worked on - I watched that Billy Joel doc, you know, when he said, look, (laughter) I've written everything. Like, I don't know what to say.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter) Yeah.
MORTON: And he stopped writing lyrics. You know, I think I'm not quite at that point. But for me, it still has to be for a reason because that's - it's hard out here, you know? Like, you got to really work hard if you want people to hear your music, if you want to get - especially today, algorithms you're fighting against. So it's really got to be worth it for me. It's got to, like, be for a reason.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MESS")
MORTON: (Singing) I take back everything I said.
MARTÍNEZ: That's PJ Morton. His new double album is called "Saturday Night/Sunday Morning." PJ, thanks a lot.
MORTON: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MESS")
MORTON: (Singing) But I've been a mess since you left. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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