At this point in his career, PJ Morton has earned the freedom to make whatever kind of album he wants. He has several GRAMMY wins, toured the world with Maroon 5, and worked with some of the biggest names in music. Along the way, the New Orleans native has built successful careers in both R&B and gospel, even if those sides of his artistry usually appeared on separate projects.

With Saturday Night / Sunday Morning, Morton finally decided to put them together. The double album features an R&B side and a gospel side, drawing from a life spent between the music he heard growing up in church and the records he loved outside of it. For Morton, making the album also meant challenging an idea he encountered early in his career: an artist had to choose between the two.

“I’m done doing one at a time,” Morton told me during our conversation. “I wanted to present that it’s possible to have these R&B and Gospel coexist together in a beautiful way.”

Morton has won awards for his work in both genres, collaborated with artists such as Stevie Wonder and Nas, and contributed to Jon Batiste’s Album of the Year winner, We Are. Released on Juneteenth during Black Music Month, Saturday Night / Sunday Morning shares its title with Morton’s 2024 memoir but approaches the idea through music instead of his life story.

Ahead of the album’s release, Morton spoke to ESSENCE about finally bringing R&B and gospel together, how growing up in New Orleans influenced his approach and why he kept the guest list short this time around.

ESSENCE: When I was doing research on your album, the subject line read: “PJ Morton is done choosing between R&B and gospel.” I wanted to ask you, has that really been like a dialogue internally where you felt as though you had to choose between the two genres?

PJ Morton: Yes and no. I think this is a culmination of my life. It was in the beginning of my career or even before my career, but just as a musician, as a writer, and as a producer. There was that struggle there because I was a preacher’s kid, grew up in church and it was kind of like I had to do secular music. And for me, I never stopped. So I guess the answer to that question is yes and no. It wasn’t a struggle. I would write. I mean, as an artist, I chose to be an R&B artist, but as a songwriter and producer, I wrote plenty of gospel music for an artist. But for me, I guess I’m saying that I’ve never seen it exist together. It’s always been like one at a time or you don’t put them together. And so for me, I’m saying on this album, I’m done doing one at a time. I wanted to present that it’s possible to have these R&B and Gospel coexist together in a beautiful way.

What made now the right time to dedicate and tie a double album to those two sides of your artistry?

PJM: I think it has some level to do with just the time I’ve spent now. It’s just such a different place. I mean, it’s crazy. Six GRAMMYs later—It still blows my mind to even say that out loud, you know what I’m saying? Also, the fact that they have been for two best gospel album GRAMMYs. There’s been a best R&B song GRAMMY There’s been an album of the year GRAMMY with Jon Batiste. So just like I’ve kind of proven myself in all of these different spaces in real life, I think now artistically I’m maybe one of the better voices to be able to express this. And I think now is the time because I’m saying all I have to say. I won’t say things forever. Frankie Beverly is my hero. So at some point I’m going to stop making albums and just keep touring every year. So, I’m getting it all out and I thought now was a good time.

Saturday Night / Sunday Morning, that’s also the title of your book. How do you think this album expands on the ideas that you explored in the book?

PJM: Well, the book was more of a memoir. I didn’t know that I was going to do an album at that time, especially not a double album at this title. And so Saturday Night / Sunday Morning was just a name that I had. Initially it was an idea for a documentary because I think it just kind of summed up in a nice, cool way what my life is and what we are, the dichotomy of people. So, I think the book is more about just me. That’s just been my life. I think [the album] are those things, but just in song form. It just drives that home because they’re all different types of songs on Saturday Morning. It’s soulful songs, it’s R&B songs on the gospel album. I went to all of this kind of paying homage to all of the things that I love through the years in gospel music. So I think it does expand in a way, but it doesn’t go into my life stories the way the memoir did.

What went into the decision to release the album on Juneteenth—was it intentional at all? 

PJM: It became intentional. Once I saw that I had enough time and that Juneteenth was a Friday, I’m like, okay, we have to shoot for Juneteenth. So I rushed and made sure we could get final in time and everything because for me, this is the Black experience I saw growing up. My family, many of my friends’ families worked hard all through the week. A lot of them had jobs they didn’t want to be at. Saturday night, using that to decompress from that crazy week. Sunday morning most times was for community, for church and where you went to re-energize and recharge for that week that was coming again. So man, I thought no better than June 1st being Black Music Month, but then also, man, Juneteenth is a drop date. Let’s get to it. So yeah, it was very intentional.

You brought up Jon Batiste earlier, and this is something that you, he and I share—we’re from New Orleans. How do you think New Orleans inspires your artistry and how would you describe New Orleans as a music city? 

PJM: New Orleans makes you unique. Even to step out and do a gospel and R&B album is very New Orleans in the attitude of “I’m going to just march to the beat of my own drum,” and I’ve always appreciated that about New Orleans. It’s like you got to make sure you’re great, number one. And two, you do what you want, man, as long as it’s great. And so I think I’ve taken that, the integrity of New Orleans when it comes to this music thing.

As far as New Orleans as a music city, I think there’s so much music. We almost take it for granted because we have an overage of talents. It’s people who just hang out that could play a horn. You know what I’m saying? They’re not even a horn player for real, but they could pick it up and play it a little bit because it’s just ingrained in our culture. So, if you make it out as a musician, it’s truly like a badge of honor because you’ve gotten through the gauntlet of some of the greatest. And I love that about it. I mean being the beginning of American music, I say, jazz, which became American R&B and turned into rock and roll. I think that’s still in the city. I think that’s how we got bounce music because we’re like, “Well, I don’t care what everybody else is doing.” We’re just going to put songs over this beat right here, this same beat, and we’re going to make it our thing. We don’t really care what everybody else is doing.” And I think that sums it up as a music city. It’s like we’re marching to the beat of our own drums with excellence.

You’re album, I realized it wasn’t super collaboration heavy. So in terms of the way that you work—do you enjoy doing your own thing a bit more or do you enjoy the collaborative process?

PJM: No, I think they’re different. I think the reason for the lack of collaboration this time is because I have collaborated so much in the last few years. It was almost like it was time to take a break and I’m kind of reactive that way. It’s like, okay, I’ve been doing this now. I don’t want to do that this time. For the gospel album, it was really like, okay, I have always featured people. I haven’t done a gospel album where I’m singing a full album before. Gospel, According to PJ, was Yolanda Adams, Commission, the Clark Sisters, Tasha Cobbs, all the greats, Kirk Franklin. The Watch the Sun album, my last proper studio R&B album had Stevie Wonder and Nas on the same song. Jill Scott and Alex Isley on the same song, had Wale on a song. And so for me, it’s almost like I’ve reached a lot of what I wanted as far as features are concerned. 

So, I thought it was cool, especially with this specific message and what I was saying, just this project as a whole, I thought it was cool for it to be me. But I enjoy them all the same, just in different ways. It’s fun to collaborate and do things with other people. But I think ultimately I’m a loner and I have always just locked in by myself at least first.

Keyon Harold and Rukshana Maurice were the only two features on the album.

PLM: Yes. “Autopsy” with Rukshana and Keyon Harold on “Mess.”

Why did you choose them?

PJM: Great question. I think both of those equally were ideas that I had started on prior to starting the album. I didn’t know that these songs were for me. Well, “Autopsy” I had for a while, was supposed to go on a previous album that I never used as a song. We rerecorded it, but I had the song written for years and Ruks was on the demo. She had been on the demo since the beginning. And so I wanted to include her on the album since it was finally coming out. She’s like, “Is this song ever coming out? ” And then “Mess” was a track that me, Keyon, and my bass player, Brian Cocherham, worked on. And I initially thought it was just going to be as a producer. But then when I started working on this album, it felt good and it fit what I was doing. 

So, I used it, but Keyon was already on it. And so I kept Keyon on it. But Keyon, I have collaborated with since album one. He’s always been there. I started out with him in my first gig with Erykah Badu, and went straight out of college. And so he’s played horns on every one of my albums. 

Is there any message or something that you hope that listeners would take from this album when they hear Saturday Night / Sunday Morning?

PJM: I wanted to slow down and just have people be in a moment and be in a space. And so I hope it feels that way first where it feels warm and it’s a hug in these crazy times. And then when you listen to it, I hope that people get the balance of like, you can be a complete person if you are a person of faith. It doesn’t necessarily mean that’s all you do is gospel music and you can’t do any other music. I think I want people to take away that God is the ultimate creator and we shouldn’t limit him.