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Anita Baker thanks Chance the Rapper for helping her regain ownership of her masters

During a recent concert, soul legend Anita Baker publicly thanked Chance the Rapper for helping her regain control of her masters.

At one point during her show at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas on May 29, Baker paused to acknowledge Chance, who she’d spotted it in the crowd.

“Would you guys say hello to a friend of mine, by way of the music industry, and by way of helping me to get ahold and ownership of my master recordings?” Baker said before pointing out Chance in the crowd, who stood up as the audience applauded.

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Chance later took to Twitter, sharing a video of the moment and writing, “I saw one of THE greatest performances of my LIFETIME last night! Thank you so much [Baker] for being an inspiration and an icon to so many of US”.

“Had no idea you would be in our Midst,” Baker responded. “Such a nice Surprise. Brought Tears, to my eyes.”

Baker was in the midst of a fight to regain control of her masters with her former label Elektra throughout much of 2021, telling her fans early in the year not to play her music on streaming platforms until the issue was resolved.

It’s not clear exactly what Chance’s role in helping Baker take back control of her masters was, but in September 2021, she indicated that the issue was resolved and told fans they were in the clear to listen to stream her music.

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“All My Children Are Coming Home,” Baker wrote alongside a photo of her first five studio albums – 1983’s ‘The Songstress’, 1986’s ‘The Rapture’, 1988’s ‘Giving You the Best That I Got’, 1990’s ‘Compositions’ and 1994’s ‘Rhythm of Love’.

Shortly after Baker revealed she had regained control of her masters, she was congratulated by Taylor Swift about the news. Swift has had her own lengthy battle regarding the ownership of her master recordings, choosing to re-record her first six studio albums entirely to take back control.

In other Chance news, the rapper has released three new singles this year. The first, ‘Child of God’, arrived back in March, and featured guest vocals from Moses Sumney. He later performed the song on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Earlier this month, Chance and Vic Mensa teamed up on ‘Wraith’, also featuring Smoko Ono. Just last week, he shared ‘A Bar About a Bar’ with an accompanying video that Mensa also appeared in.

Last year saw Chance share solo single ‘The Heart & the Tongue’, release concert film Magnificent Coloring World, appear on the soundtrack for Space Jam: A New Legacy and release ‘Nothing’s Impossible’, a collaboration with Dionne Warwick.