{"id":1987,"date":"2016-05-22T17:54:49","date_gmt":"2016-05-22T17:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/?p=1987"},"modified":"2016-05-22T18:29:52","modified_gmt":"2016-05-22T18:29:52","slug":"ma-raineys-black-bottom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/ma-raineys-black-bottom\/","title":{"rendered":"Ma Rainey&#8217;s Black Bottom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Ma_Rainey0-www.imjussayin.com_.png\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1988\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/ma-raineys-black-bottom\/ma_rainey0-www-imjussayin-com\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Ma_Rainey0-www.imjussayin.com_.png?fit=509%2C400&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"509,400\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Ma_Rainey0 | www.imjussayin.com\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Ma_Rainey0-www.imjussayin.com_.png?fit=509%2C400&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1988\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Ma_Rainey0-www.imjussayin.com_.png?resize=509%2C400\" alt=\"The Real Ma Rainey and Her band - imjussayin.com\" width=\"509\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Ma_Rainey0-www.imjussayin.com_.png?w=509&amp;ssl=1 509w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Ma_Rainey0-www.imjussayin.com_.png?resize=300%2C236&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 509px) 100vw, 509px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ma Rainey&#8217;s Black Bottom set in 1927 is an impressive play with an interesting history.&nbsp; It centres on power dynamics: racism, self-determination, economics and change.&nbsp; I enjoyed the London performance.&nbsp; This play remains relevant on gender inequality and cultural appropriation.&nbsp; I also went away with a better understanding of recent gang violence.&nbsp; The play illustrates the &#8216;tragic-comedy&#8217; rhythm of black life which sadly continues.<\/p>\n<p>Afro-American playwright Augustus Wilson wrote Ma Rainey&#8217;s Black Bottom in 1982.&nbsp; It was only the second non-musical play by a black author to be performed on Broadway in 1985.&nbsp; The first play, Lorraine Hansberry\u2019s drama A Raisin In The Sun was some 36 years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Ma Rainey is a metaphor for power and limited self-determination.&nbsp; Mel (studio owner) and Irvin, her manager, discuss Ma in the opening act.&nbsp; They consider Ma diva-esque (troublesome), but both white men are prepared to &#8216;put up&#8217; with Ma because she makes a lot of money for them, more than for herself.<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, what these men consider as diva-esque is a personal dignity and self-determination.&nbsp; For example, Ma wants to record her song Black Bottom in its original Country Blues style.&nbsp; Mel wants it recorded in the emerging city style of Jazz: a black subculture.&nbsp; He makes secret arrangements with Ma&#8217;s band member Levee to rehearse the song in Jazz.&nbsp; Mel has the money and the studio but Ma owns the song and has built a fan-base.<\/p>\n<p>The lyrics and dance for Ma\u2019s Black Bottom, contain strong sexual overtones.&nbsp; This overt sexualisation continues to dominate Black women&#8217;s music.&nbsp; For example, Rhianna&#8217;s fashion and crude gyrations with Drake in the 2016 video Work.&nbsp; Music companies have complete control.&nbsp; Arguably, female artists have less power than Ma!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Ma_Rainey1-www.imjussayin.com-1.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1990\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/ma-raineys-black-bottom\/ma_rainey1-www-imjussayin-com-1\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Ma_Rainey1-www.imjussayin.com-1.jpg?fit=870%2C713&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"870,713\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Ma_Rainey1 | www.imjussayin.com 1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Ma_Rainey1-www.imjussayin.com-1.jpg?fit=870%2C713&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1990\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Ma_Rainey1-www.imjussayin.com-1.jpg?resize=488%2C400\" alt=\"Levee from the National Theatre Production London | imjussayin.com\" width=\"488\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Ma_Rainey1-www.imjussayin.com-1.jpg?w=870&amp;ssl=1 870w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Ma_Rainey1-www.imjussayin.com-1.jpg?resize=300%2C246&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Ma_Rainey1-www.imjussayin.com-1.jpg?resize=768%2C629&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 488px) 100vw, 488px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ma has limited power however her band has none.&nbsp; Levee is ambitious. &nbsp;Mel promised him a recording deal so he re-arranged Ma&#8217;s song.&nbsp; When Ma sacks him, for numerous reasons, he is unconcerned because he has a deal.&nbsp; Only Mel reneges.&nbsp;&nbsp; Worse, Mel is not rejecting Levee&#8217;s songs; just Levee.&nbsp; Mel wants to capitalise on Jazz the new black music and record them.&nbsp; Mel does not negotiate but forces $5 per song on Levee.<\/p>\n<p>Levee has no control over his life and is left broken, bitter and angry. This emotional state has tragic consequences.&nbsp; I find this powerlessness reflected in our society in seemingly senseless acts of violence.<\/p>\n<p>Mel controls Levee&#8217;s work and has appropriated black culture which will be packaged and sold.&nbsp; The lion\u2019s share divided by white society.&nbsp; This cultural appropriation continues today with the same financial result.&nbsp; Examples include Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber.<\/p>\n<p>I have touched upon a few threads.&nbsp; The theatre production has ended but the play is worth reading.&nbsp; The use of the N* word is not authentic to the period.&nbsp; However, the politics are and remain relevant:&nbsp; gender inequality; lack of economic parity and self-determination for Black people and power is concentrated in the hands of few.<\/p>\n<p>Connect with me on Twitter: www.twitter.com\/imjussayin2<\/p>\n<div class=\"likebtn_container\" style=\"\"><!-- LikeBtn.com BEGIN --><span class=\"likebtn-wrapper\"  data-identifier=\"post_1987\"  data-site_id=\"632a645f943ec93423ce055c\"  data-style=\"\"  data-unlike_allowed=\"\"  data-show_copyright=\"\"  data-item_url=\"https:\/\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/ma-raineys-black-bottom\/\"  data-item_title=\"Ma Rainey&#039;s Black Bottom\"  data-item_date=\"2016-05-22T17:54:49+00:00\"  data-engine=\"WordPress\"  data-plugin_v=\"2.6.59\"  data-prx=\"https:\/\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php?action=likebtn_prx\"  data-event_handler=\"likebtn_eh\" ><\/span><!-- LikeBtn.com END --><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ma Rainey&#8217;s Black Bottom set in 1927 is an impressive play with an interesting history.&nbsp; It centres on power dynamics: racism, self-determination, economics and change.&nbsp; I enjoyed the London performance.&nbsp; This play remains relevant on gender inequality and cultural appropriation.&nbsp; I also went away with a better understanding of recent gang violence.&nbsp; The play illustrates [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"likebtn_container\" style=\"\"><!-- LikeBtn.com BEGIN --><span class=\"likebtn-wrapper\"  data-identifier=\"post_1987\"  data-site_id=\"632a645f943ec93423ce055c\"  data-style=\"\"  data-unlike_allowed=\"\"  data-show_copyright=\"\"  data-item_url=\"https:\/\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/ma-raineys-black-bottom\/\"  data-item_title=\"Ma Rainey&#039;s Black Bottom\"  data-item_date=\"2016-05-22T17:54:49+00:00\"  data-engine=\"WordPress\"  data-plugin_v=\"2.6.59\"  data-prx=\"https:\/\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php?action=likebtn_prx\"  data-event_handler=\"likebtn_eh\" ><\/span><!-- LikeBtn.com END --><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_341138297_341138297":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,495],"tags":[647,644,648,188,649,452,643,645,597,646,323,60,210,468,324,650],"class_list":["post-1987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-literature","tag-august-wilson","tag-black-bottom","tag-blues","tag-culture","tag-jazz","tag-literature","tag-ma-rainey","tag-ma-raineys-black-bottom","tag-music","tag-national-theatre-london","tag-plays","tag-power","tag-racism","tag-review","tag-theatre","tag-white-supremacy"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ma Rainey&#039;s Black Bottom - imjussayin<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/imjussayin.com\/blog\/ma-raineys-black-bottom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ma Rainey&#039;s Black Bottom - imjussayin\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ma Rainey&#8217;s Black Bottom set in 1927 is an impressive play with an interesting history.&nbsp; 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