Jonathan Morgan (DatAgborBoy) (born 27 February 1969), also known as “Joe Morgan”, “Ezegu”, “Oworwor Music” is a Nigerian Highlife musician and a songwriter; born into a family reputed for music and creative arts.

He attended Obika Primary School before proceeding to Ime-Obi Secondary School also in Ime-Obi, Agbor. He however completed his secondary education at the prestigious Gbenoba Grammar School, Agbor and also studied Accounting at Yaba College Of Technology, Lagos State.

Music Career

While in primary school, he joined his father, Dr. C. K. Morgan, in his musical band. His early introduction to music ensured his mastery of several string and percussion instruments.

His musical success in the creation and propagation of the ‘Oworwor’ genre earned his ‘Ezegu’ literally translated to the ‘King of Music”. His first album, “Recognition” was released in 1997. He has since then released over fifteen albums, on a steady rise becoming one of the most successful highlife musicians in Nigeria.

He has also collaborated with several recording artists, including Chief Ifeanyi Akwete Uwaya and Onolyrics.

Aside from singing, he has featured in a number of music and entertainment events such as Delta Unity Festival and Ika Carnival.

Joe Morgan in a recent encounter with the media said:
“The Ika is not a very sweet, flowing and melodic language. If not for the fact that I am a musician, I wouldn’t have known that my dialect is not that sweet. You know sweet dialects when you listen to Yoruba, Ndokwa, Igbo songs. They are very sweet but the Ika language is difficult to put into songs for a non-Ika person to listen to and like. It is very difficult as you need to make it sweet for people to appreciate it.

“Yes, that was the best thing I could do. The first song I did, nobody liked it, as it was only my family who patronized it when the album was released. the album because my people in Ika land didn’t understand the song. The problem was that the people wanted me to sing like my father. I couldn’t understand why I had to sell my music only in Ika land; I needed to sell it in Kwale, Asaba and other places. It’s difficult. It’s the reason other Ika musicians find it hard to break even that way. So, all I needed to do was to sing in English. People here didn’t accept it, so how can an outsider accept it?
“What I did was, I left all I was doing in Ika and did in English, a song titled “Do you love me?” and everyone then accepted it and started singing it and I then went back to Ika language. And now it is what everybody wants to sing and everybody wants to have. I introduced the talking drum, I brought it with a Yoruba person and we started playing the talking drum into my music. So, my Yoruba friends in the community here felt at home and I drew them closer to my music and Agbor, Ika music. So that’s the only way we can penetrate them. I had to bring in a keyboard into my music which wasn’t common then amongst the local artists I might be on ground then. So these are the few things I needed to do to penetrate different peoples with diverse cultures and backgrounds.

“I am an influence to my friends. I don’t have one friend that can influence me wrongly. When I go to events like that, I buy my bottled water. We will be drinking, gisting together. It is you that will be thinking this man is drinking water. And you who will know whether the beer you are taking is advantageous to you. So that’s how it is.

“Ihienkonye is the name of my first son. That name was given to me by my grandparents but it didn’t pop up in my entertainment world. I didn’t want it to die because I love where I am from. You know I came from Ika Land.”
In 2015, he surpassed many artists in Ika by becoming the Best Indigenous Artist in Delta State. The musician did not even think that he would beat such music giants.

Throughout his music career, he has released a great number of highlife music albums and few hip-hop albums. Despite working within one music genre, Joe Morgan has proven to be very versatile and creative. Sometimes he could be released in a year.

He has also featured in ambassadorial deals.

The musician’s net worth is estimated at N400 million.
Joe Morgan loves playing guitar, singing, dancing and playing soccer.

The famous highlife musician is married with four children (2 girls and 2 boys).

DatAgborBoy with humble beginnings, has earned recognition in Nigeria and abroad. He has made a difference in the highlife music industry