Anita Baker – ‘Lately’ | New Music

The incomparable Anita Baker puts her one-of-kind touch on Tyrese‘s 1999 hit “Lately” and makes it the lead single from her upcoming album Only Forever.

As a singer, there is probably no greater honor than having one of your songs re-made by an absolute icon. This sentiment is obviously not lost on Tyrese, who has been excitedly tweeting about Baker, her new album and the song for the last few days. Here are a couple of the tweets:

After 7 years … The greatest of our time is releasing anothe album… Yes!!bit.ly/OEbtxu

— Tyrese Gibson (@Tyrese) August 6, 2012

I’m on set … Can someone PLEASE post the link to Anita Baker’s new song Lately from itunes..???Thank u!!I will RT u after!!

— Tyrese Gibson (@Tyrese) August 7, 2012

If you love this woman the way I do!! MY GOD! @iamanitabaker I need you to hear her new single BADLY.!!! itunes.apple.com/us/album/latel…#HeartnSouL

— Tyrese Gibson (@Tyrese) August 7, 2012

The biggest challenge of my life was keeping my lips sealed about this..itunes.apple.com/us/album/latel…

— Tyrese Gibson (@Tyrese) August 7, 2012

Baker said that “Lately” was one of the first songs she cut for the new album, and told AOL’s The Boombox about Tyrese’s reaction to it.

“I called him into the studio and I played it for him; he had no idea. And he lost it, of course,” she shared. “He was like, ‘I know who has got to produce this!’ I’m like, ‘I already know, I got Harvey Mason, Jr., on tap.'”

The final product is standard Baker fare, with her deep, soul-stirring voice adding a new dimension to the celebrated love song.

Only Forever hits stores October 23rd.