PJ Morton is hoping to pick up a new GRAMMY or three this weekend during the 65th Annual GRAMMY Awards where he’s nominated for Best R&B Album, Best R&B Song and Best Gospel Performance/Song. Before he pulls up to the GRAMMYs in Los Angeles on Sunday, the multihyphenate visited The Daily Show in NYC earlier this week to chat it up with guest host D.L. Hughley and perform “Be Like Water” with a fellow 2023 GRAMMY nominee, spoken word artist Amir Sulaiman.
During his interview with D.L., PJ shared that his favorite thing to do out of all the things he does is performing, which should come as no surprise. Morton earned his title as the Live Show Killer honestly and comes alive on stage, no matter the size, venue, location or occasion.
PJ showed The Daily Show audience exactly why performing is his jam during “Be Like Water,” a song that he told D.L. is the favorite one that he’s made. He shared how exciting it was to work with Stevie Wonder and Nas on the track. For this gripping live version, PJ held down all of the vocals – at times sounding just like Stevie – and enlisted Amir Sulaiman to take Nas' place. Morton sat at a grand piano and tickled the ivories accompanied only by his bassist and a percussionist on the darkened set enhanced with shades of blue and graphics of waves undulating in the background to set the mood.
PJ’s live showing of “Be Like Water” was not only executed beautifully, but it had the honor of being the first musical performance of 2023 on Comedy Central’s late-night staple. In case it was past your bedtime when his episode aired, you can watch PJ Morton’s insightful intervew and see him turn into the smooth criminal that is the Live Show Killer below.
