PJ Morton is living his best life.
As the keyboardist for Maroon 5, he has played sold-out shows in arenas around the world, as well as a rare concert in May, in front of the Pyramids at Giza in Egypt.
In April, Morton, as a songwriter and producer, received a Grammy Award for his contribution to We Are by Jon Batiste, which won Album of the Year.
The same month, he also released his best album to date as a solo artist, the critically acclaimed Watch the Sun, featuring collaborations with soul singer Stevie Wonder and hip-hop star Nas.
Listening to this list of achievements, which all occurred within six months, Morton, 41, allows himself to feel that little bit of satisfaction.
“You can say that I am firing on all cylinders,” he tells The National. "It is pretty amazing and these victories are all the more sweet because I took the long route to get to where I am.
“And that journey includes a lot of people saying 'no' and disappointments. So right now I just feel grateful because I remember a time when my career was not like it is now.”
The son of a preacher man
His level-headedness and humility stems from him growing up in a spiritual household.
Morton was born in New Orleans. His father was a gospel singer, so Morton's first interactions with music occurred while performing piano as a child during church services.
He entered the music industry as an artist for hire, and he did well for himself. He contributed to India Arie's Grammy-winning 2002 album Voyage to India and collaborated with RnB singers Faith Evans and Musiq Soulchild.
In 2010, he joined Maroon 5, initially as a fill-in for former member Jesse Carmichael, before becoming full time two years later.
Despite the commercial pop sounds explored by the group to great success, it is luscious song arrangements and the reflective lyricism of gospel music that Morton draws from when working on his solo albums, of which there are now 10. Watch the Sun lovingly captures both.
It is a stirring and uplifting work composed during a time of deep uncertainty.
With Covid-19 shutting down live events for nearly two years, Morton found himself at home with nothing to do.
His resulting anxiety was heightened when a computer hardware crash wiped out an early batch of songs he had written for Watch the Sun.
"It was devastating and it was really then that it hit me that a lot of us, because of the pandemic, will not be doing anything for a while," he says.
"I realised I had to sit back and really think about things and process what was happening. It was really from that point that I eventually began writing songs that became the album."
Watch the Sun is Morton's most ruminative work. It jettisons some of the experimentation of his 2017 album Gumbo.
Where Gumbo relished in its fusion of hip-hop, gospel and soul, the new album is streamlined and even-paced.
The approach complements Watch the Sun's introspective themes, a lot of which are captured in song titles such as the neo-soul number My Peace and the funky Be Like Water, the latter featuring the aforementioned guest slots by Stevie Wonder and Nas.
Morton describes these tracks, Watch the Sun's fifth and sixth, as forming the thematic heart of the album.
"They speak of the need to find balance during the pandemic where there is a lot of uncertainty," he says. "I remember just struggling to find that balance during the lockdown and it really came down to a combination of holding on to my peace of mind — which inspired the song My Peace — and at the same time being like water. Meaning you have to pivot and be open to change."
Maintaining that balance remains ongoing for Morton.
Not only does it allow him to keep working on an established solo career as a songwriter and producer alongside being a member of one of the world’s biggest pop bands, but it keeps the self-confessed “church kid” steady in the tumultuous world of music.
“I am a walking dichotomy and I think that a lot of us are like that.
"What I have learned is that everything is necessary. You can't have art without entertainment, or be so serious all the time and not have fun. All of it is important and necessary.”
Taking his show on the road
Morton says his Maroon 5 commitments won't clash with promotional plans for Watch the Sun.
He plans to combine both by performing intimate evening solo concerts in some of the cities the band visits.
"I can see myself doubling up on certain things and doing piano pop-up shows in places that have good venues and piano bars," he says.
"I love it because it gives me more experiences. I remember back in May I played a solo show in New Orleans, then days later I was playing in front of thousands of people at the Pyramids in Egypt and then in Abu Dhabi.
“This is an amazing life and something that not a lot of people have experienced. So I am just grateful for what I have been blessed with."
Scroll through the gallery below to see Maroon 5 performing at Abu Dhabi's Etihad Arena
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Watford v Leicester City (3.30pm)
Brighton v Arsenal (6pm)
West Ham v Wolves (8.30pm)
Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (10.45pm)
Sunday
Newcastle United v Sheffield United (5pm)
Aston Villa v Chelsea (7.15pm)
Everton v Liverpool (10pm)
Monday
Manchester City v Burnley (11pm)
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
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If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
The years Ramadan fell in May
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Details
Through Her Lens: The stories behind the photography of Eva Sereny
Forewords by Jacqueline Bisset and Charlotte Rampling, ACC Art Books
The winners
Fiction
- ‘Amreekiya’ by Lena Mahmoud
- ‘As Good As True’ by Cheryl Reid
The Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award
- ‘Syrian and Lebanese Patricios in Sao Paulo’ by Oswaldo Truzzi; translated by Ramon J Stern
- ‘The Sound of Listening’ by Philip Metres
The George Ellenbogen Poetry Award
- ‘Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance’ by Fady Joudah
Children/Young Adult
- ‘I’ve Loved You Since Forever’ by Hoda Kotb
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Profile Box
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Mohammed Toraif
Based: Manama, Bahrain
Sector: Sales, Technology, Conservation
Size: (employees/revenue) 4/ 5,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($100,000)
Investors: Two first-round investors including, 500 Startups, Fawaz Al Gosaibi Holding (Saudi Arabia)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
