Vaudeville blues empowered African American women in ways that previously had been unheard of. These women were brought to the top because they had a skill to sing the blues. But also, they were very successful because in their lyrics, they were able to connect to people. In the movie they said that they may not be singing to you, but there is someone out there they are singing to. I am not positive if I remember her exact quote but I do know it went something like this, "We may not be singing to you, but we are signing to someone out there."
             I will use two specific songs to emphasize and express my examples. These blues singers were able to relate to the people they sang to. They kept it real and sang about real things that were happening, things the listeners were experiencing or feeling every day. The lyrics were lyrics that the listeners were able to understand, relate to and appreciate. These women who were singing the blues were telling it like it is and the listeners loved to hear it. In many cases, the black singers were sexually strong and empowering. They sang about their sexuality. They admitted that they were human by saying that they had sexual feelings and desires. This was quite a jump for the music business. In many cases they were seen as singing the devil's lyrics. They were looked down upon. But since the public had seen black women as ugly and nonsexual with minstrelsy previously, this was a big step for African American women. In the blues business, the singers were respected, eve!
             n though by much of the public they were looked down upon. For example, the blues singer Bessie Smith was known to many as "The Empress." She was a powerful singer and earned herself a lot of respect in the business and was an extremely popular blues singer. Her name is synonymous with the blues.
             In the song Downhearted Blues, by Alberta Hunter, her lyrics spoke of her being si
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