Music has been an integral part of our lives as human beings and its different styles have gone a long way doing good for mankind, churning emotions and translating them into song: a musical composition meant to be performed with a human voice. Ballads, lullabies, hymns, chants and folk as part of the existing music styles have gone on to helping pass down history, hyping up armies for war, connecting souls to their deities, lulling babies (and older folks sometimes) to sleep and in telling fictional stories with the engagement of the listeners (audience) as a form of interlude or introduction to a new scene or chapter.
These formats have gone on to be developed into popular songs: music composed for singers to be performed as a live recording in audio and/or video and sold to the masses (mass market) through which we have been able to identify these singers and musicians as artists and acknowledge them for their works – songs and other philanthropic engagements alike. Highlighting today are some of the first black singers to have made it in the professional music world, young and old and their top hits:
- W. C. Handy: William Christopher Handy (1873-1958) known as the “Father of Blues” was an African-American composer who changed the course of popular music through the introduction of the blues idiom into ragtime music; it occurred during the transition of ragtime into jazz. His best known work is “St. Louis Blues” (1914), alongside “Beale Street Blues” (1916) and “Loveless Love” (1921).
- Ma Rainey: Gertrude “Ma” Rainey (1886-1939) was an African-American singer who incorporated authentic blues into her song repertoire, making her the first to do so during the 20th century. She dominated the periods of the 1920s as the blues craze garnered mass popularity. Her best known work is “See See Rider”, which became one of the most famous and recorded of all blues records, giving her a copyright of the song. Her other songs recorded in the same year are “Moonshine Blues” and “Yonder Comes The Blues”.
- Miles Davis: Miles Dewey Davis (1926-1991) was an African-American composer, trumpeter, and bandleader. He was considered to be among the most influential in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. From making his way studying basic principles of jazz advancing into rock, funk and even hip-hop. His most notable works are “Round About Midnight” (1955), “Sketches of Spain” (1960), “Milestones”(1958) and “Kind of Blue” (1959).
- Billie Holiday: Born Elenora Fagan (1915, Philadelphia), she created the name ‘Billie Holiday’ from her favorite actress Billie Dove and her father Clarence Holiday, and was known to be one of the most known jazz vocalists in the history of jazz. She was known for these songs of hers: “Strange Fruit”, “God Bless The Child”, “Trav’lin Light” (which gave her pop success with Capitol Records, but released under the name Lady Day due to contractual issues) and “Lover Man” (placed her in the pop and R&B charts for #20 and #5 respectively).
- Louis Armstrong: Louis Daniel Armstrong (1901-1971), nicknamed “Satchmo (Satchel Mouth – truncated)” or “Pops” was an African-American trumpeter and vocalist, one of the leading and most influential artists of all time. He also featured in movies as well [Hello Dolly in the year 1969]. His most notable work which has made its way into movie soundtracks as well as samples in other musical productions is the song “What A Wonderful World”, alongside other records such as “We Have All The Time In The World” (1969 and re-released in 1994) and “Give Me A Kiss To Build A Dream On” (1951).
- Ella Fitzgerald: Nicknamed “The First Lady of Song”, Ella Fitzgerald was an American jazz singer (1917-1996), born in Newport News, Virginia and moved to Yonkers, New York in the 1920s. She was mostly pitted against Billie Holiday since they were both jazz artists and of the same era but in different lanes. They eventually ended up being friends. Her most notable works are “Sleigh Ride” (), “Manhattan” (1956), “Cry Me A River” (1961) and “A-Tisket A-Tasket” (1938). She has a career amount of 13 Grammys as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award which she won in the year 1967.
- James Brown: James Joseph Brown (1933-2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, bandleader, and record producer. Nicknamed “Soul Brother No. 1”, “Godfather of Soul” and “Mr Dynamite”, he was among the first 10 inductees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as he was tagged to be the man behind the pioneering of the genre funk. He is also statistically the most sampled musician of all time – a record amount of 7,413 times. His most known hits include “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World”, “Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine” and “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag”.
- Mamie Smith: She (1891-1946) was an American vaudeville singer, dancer, actress and pianist, performing styles including jazz and blues. Mamie was known to not have an official date of birth, but it is presumed she was born in the years of 1883 but upon the research by Jeremiah Sullivan showing that her birth certificate stated that she was born in 1891, in Cincinnati. Her most notable works include “Crazy Blues”[which was originally titled as ‘Harlem Blues’] (1920), “That Thing Called Love”, and “My Sportin Man”.
- Aretha Franklin: Notable works: “Respect” (1967), “I Say A Little Prayer” (1968), and “A Natural Woman” (1968) which she was nominated for a Grammy under Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and nominated for an Awit Award for Best Vocal Arrangement.
- Sarah Vaughn: Notable works: “Misty” (1964), “All Of Me” (1957), and “Can’t Get Out Of This Mood”.
