Mamie Smith was an American vaudeville singer, dancer, pianist, and actress who revolutionized the genre of blues music through her success as a black woman. Smith began to work as a dancer at age 10, and when she was a teenager she danced in Salem Tutt Whitney's Smart Set. Then, when she was 30 years old, she moved to Harlem to become a club singer. In 1920, Smith made the first recording by a black blues singer, but the musicians were still all white. The company received threats of boycotting because of this, but that didn't stop Smith and her songs from becoming commercial successes. However, it was her song "Crazy Blues" that really shook the music world. It is widely considered to be the first blues song on record, and after selling 75,000 copies within the first months of its release, "Crazy Blues" inspired an array of other recording companies to sign on black female blues singers. Thus began the emergence of black women in the music world, creating songs and records that were popularized and purchased by black and white consumers alike.
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