1986 · Behind the Songs
Swept off her feet, and taking us with her.
“Caught Up in the Rapture” is the companion piece to “Sweet Love” — where that song was contentment, this one is surrender. The arrangement moves a little faster, the keyboards shimmer, and Anita Baker sings like someone who has stopped resisting joy and decided to let it carry her.
The record earned her the Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and the vocal is the reason: looser, more playful, more free than anything else in her catalog. She ad-libs with a jazz singer’s confidence, tossing off runs that feel spontaneous and landing every one.
If “Sweet Love” is falling in love, “Caught Up in the Rapture” is being in it — the current pulling strong, and not a single reason to swim back.