Solange Pays Tribute to Junie Morrison: “He Was the ‘Super Spirit’ Indeed”

Solange has written a tribute to Walter “Junie” Morrison—the funk legend (best known for his work with Ohio Players and Parliament) who died this week. In the post, called “The Super Spirit of Junie Morrison,” Solange recalls the first time hearing Morrison’s music when Q-Tip showed her “Super Spirit.” “No song had ever made me feel quite like it,” she wrote. She then dove deep into his discography. Later, after she had already begun mixing A Seat at the Table, she was inspired to begin work on the album’s Morrison tribute, “Junie” after hearing Raphael Saadiq play a particular “drum and bass loop” in the studio: “It’s the last song that made it onto A Seat at the Table and the one I feel the closest to today.” Later in the post, she explained:

I wrote the song [“Junie”] to honor the brilliant Junie Morrison and the impact his work and story had on me, while wanting to challenge my own relationship with “sharing your magic.” The more I learned about Junie, the more I learned how much of his gift he shared through his musical contributions to others; how we have all in some way or another been touched by his contributions to funk music, and about his wealth of inspiration to other musicians. The more he came up, the more I heard the words underrated and under-credited. But the greatest lesson I learned about Junie Morison is that the magic was endless….and the truest testament to real authentic magic….is that it can’t be made….. it just is. When that kind of magic exists, it will happen again and again, no matter what the potion of players are. He had it in his hands. He was very appreciated. He was the “Super Spirit” indeed.

Read Solange’s full post here. Pitchfork named A Seat at the Table its No. 1 album of 2016. Recently, she won Best R&B Performance at the Grammys for “Cranes in the Sky.” 

Rest in Funk #JunieMorrison . Your unprecedented contributions to music will be revered so deeply forever more. “Super Spirit” found me when I needed it the most, and I can’t thank you enough for inspiring me, and so many….in so many ways. I’ll never forget sending “Junie” to you (thank you so much @djsoulsister for connecting us) and being so nervous how a magic man like yourself would respond to a song trying to capture your untouchable essence. You couldn’t tell me nothing that week, because Junie Morrison dug it, and that was the ultimate honor in honoring you. You were always so kind and groovy and I know your funk’n up the universe from the skies.

A post shared by Solange (@saintrecords) on Feb 17, 2017 at 7:06am PST

Rest in Funk Junie Morrison…
You were 1 of 1
I wrote “Junie” to honor your magic that I know will live on forever:https://t.co/hY2je10Lqv

— solange knowles (@solangeknowles) February 17, 2017

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