This episode is sponsored by FX's, Fleischmann is in trouble.

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Claire Daines, Lizzy Kaplan, and Adam Brody,

this drama tells the story of recently divorced Toby Fleischmann who dives into the world of

app-based dating. The kind of success he never had in his youth. Then, his ex-wife disappears,

leaving him with her two children and no hint of her return. FX's Fleischmann is in trouble,

now streaming only on Hulu.

Welcome to Switched On Pop. I'm songwriter Charlie Harding. PJ Morton is one of the most

respected musicians today. You've probably seen him playing keys in Maroon 5,

I'm like a Super Bowl, and if you haven't, you should definitely be listening to his Grammy

Award winning R&B albums. He is a master of traditional soul and R&B music that he infuses

with modern sounds. And he's so revered that he's gathered music heavyweights like Stevie Wonder

and Nas to collaborate on his new album Watch the Sun. The song's chorus is kind of like a mantra

that hypnotized me when I first heard it. I wanted to talk with PJ about what it's like to work

with his heroes and to ask him about overlooked modern classics from Stevie and Nas that inspire PJ

on his new album. Here's that conversation. PJ, thanks for chatting with me. Yeah, I'm up

pleasure. I'd like to start by getting right into the music and begin with a conversation about

your single Be Like Water. Okay. I hear this duality. The song starts with pretty dark

in sinister menacing kind of sounds. And then the tidal ear comes in with a very uplifting

kind of message. Could you unpack this duality for me? Yeah, I've always been a person that

didn't need to be sad to write a sad song, didn't need to be happy to write a happy song. So I don't

think that that is what tells me what to write. There's something deeper in there that kind of

tells me what to say. The drum pattern is what I had first. It was just kind of weird. I was like,

...