Blues Music: Bessie Smith and Shemekia Copeland

Bessie Smith

Shemekia Copeland

Blues music in the 1920s was filled with amazing artist and their talents many who were African American and today we will be learning about Bessie Smith.  

She was born in the year 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She grew up with six siblings and her brother Clarence was the one she spent the majority of her time singing with.  In 1912 she was seen by Ma Rainey and Ma Rainey taught her the ins and outs of the business. She got signed to Columbia records in 1923. This is where she recorded many records, and her music was tailored toward working-class black people. She was surrounded by other black artists but made music known as race records for her label so the company could get the black audience. She became very popular and was doing shows all around. 

 In the year 1927 she headed to do a show in North Carolina. In the south many white people didn’t agree with black people being free and they didn’t agree with Bessie performing in North Carolina. The Ku Klux Klan was very prominent and very vocal about their dislike for black people after the civil war. 

During Bessie’s career Jim Crow laws and segregation were at an all-time high and this put her in danger. This danger didn’t scare her at all and when she was surrounded by the KKK at her North Carolina concert. Bessie was known to have a temper and when they threatened her audience and her. Her reaction was to go out and confront them. She told them if they didn’t leave everyone would come out and hurt them. They eventually ran away unsure of why she wasn’t afraid of them.  

Her career was filled with great music and great performances, but the outside world did not agree with black people having anything. She became one of the greatest blues influences in history while being policed under the post-Civil War South and refused to see black people as equal. She had many upset because there was a point in time when she had more money than any black person had ever had. Her success went against everything the south believed in. 

The blues genre was derived by black people and filled with black people who had amazing talents. The genre helped her reach black people and build a lovely career despite the world around her.  

Many just wanted to hear her powerful voice but her skin was an issue. This brings up black people being used as entertainment and being seen as something rather than someone. When this happens it's because prejudices have been passed down through generations along with trauma on the side of the African American people. In the past, black people were used in many ways besides slavery to entertain the people who stole them from their homes for free labor. This continued the stigma that white people were superior and that they are the only people allowed to make money from black people's talents.  

There has been a continuation of powerful voices in the blue’s genre such as Shemekia Copeland and her continuing career. 

Shemekia Copeland was born on the 10th of April in 1979 to her father Johnny “Clyde” Copeland and Mother Sandra Copeland. She was raised in Harlem and her father encouraged her love for music. They worked together to create amazing music. 

 The first time she stepped on stage was at eight years old with her father in the Cotton Club. She was on stage with her father Johnny Copeland who was a famous blues guitarist for years and she followed in his footsteps, becoming a well-known blues artist.  

She released her first album at the age of 18 called Turn the Heat Up in the year 1998. This album release pushed her career and helped her release albums like it. Her musical contribution to the genre Blue’s has led her on to earn eight Blue’s Music Awards. In her career, she has made music that discusses slavery, the Civil war, and many other things pertaining to the mistreatment of African American people. She has been using her music to tell stories and bring people together.  

She continues to build her career and release albums that speak to her experience in the world. Her album America’s Child is about what the world is today and how she wishes it was for her child to grow up with a strong foundation. One of the songs on the album is called “Ain’t Got Time For Hate”.  

Lyrics:  

 “Where's your wings little angel My sweet baby child And how you gonna live In a world gone wild? Well you better be smart You better be strong Ain't gonna be here long... 

Ain't got time for hate One more moment is a moment too late We ain't got time for hate 

People lost and lonely Looking for a home Call us names that still hurt us A lot more than stones It's the law of the jungle It's the law of the land” 

In this she speaks about how her son, or any child of color, is supposed to be raised in a world filled with injustices and how she can’t be here forever to protect him. I think this song shows how any mother of color fills everyday their children leave their site and it puts out an emotion of sadness that allows the listener to see the woman and behind it as a person with real fears.  

 This album, like many others, has been met with accolades and praise for her powerful voice. Even the ones that address racism and injustices done to African American people.  

She is bold in her music like Bessie Smith and both women have impacted the blue’s genre with their voices and storytelling.  

Black people being entertainment for others has furthered the separation between black and white America. This divide has shown up throughout history like in the Cotton club with black people performing to get themselves out there, but not making as much money as other performers of their time. This shows that despite blue’s music being made for black people the world climate cannot and will not accept anything that is created to help black people thrive regardless of what it is. 

These women have their voices to create an everlasting imprint on an America that has never and will never see them as fully human. Their music comes from different times but has the same history and baggage behind the messages that they sing about. Giving them a form of immortality and everlasting contribution to the history of music. 

Listen to their Music:

Clotilda's On Fire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJh-eq3WGuc

Devil's Gonna Get You: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5abfYqJG-8