Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
ma rainey s black bottomlatest news & developments
Sign of the times: Bokani Dyer (above) has rejected the deals he’s been offered because he has not received one which would benefit him and the record label. (Kevin Gruetzner/ Kevin Gruetzner Fotografie)
AMAPIANO

How the digital age has changed the existence of big record labels

The evolution of technology has changed how music is produced, removing the need to have a contract with a record label to do it. With more musicians choosing to be independent,…

  • Tshegofatso Mathe
8 min read
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom stars Viola Davis as “Ma”. (Netflix)
ADAPTATION

Ma Rainey robbed of complexity on a ‘Negro’ path leading nowhere

The life of blues pioneer Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey and her song Black Bottom have been turned into a film. Bongani Madondo laments its anticlimax

  • Bongani Madondo
14 min read