Five transformative female vocalists born between 1950 and 1970

ANITA BAKER

Music critic Nelson George called Anita Baker’s music “retronuevo.” She looked backward, especially to Sarah Vaughan, in an effort to find a new role for soul in modern music. Most of Baker’s more iconic songs are therefore hybrids. Soul with some funk. Gospel-infused pop. Fortunately, she had the voice to carry it off. She was a natural contralto but could soar into upper registers with ease.

There is always an ease about Baker’s vocals. In a very real sense, she did for soul music what Karen Carpenter was doing for pop. She was reveling in the restraint, allowing the natural purity of her voice to carry the emotional impact. Though not yet thirty, her 1986 hit “Caught Up in the Rapture” sounds timeless and ageless. She is the voice of experience without seeming weathered.

Baker received a special tribute at the 2018 BET Music Awards, which included performances by artists she has influenced like gospel singer Yolanda Adams and neo-soul star Ledisi. Jamie Foxx kicked off the tribute. Eight years earlier, at another tribute, this time on the Soul Train Music Awards, Mary J. Blige noted that had Baker not made her Rapture album (1986), “I would not be here today.” Before neo-soul became a major musical force in the 1990s, Anita Baker was planting its seeds.

Must listens: "SWEET LOVE" and "GIVING YOU THE BEST THAT I GOT"