Ma Rainey, Vesta Tilley

Ma Rainey's "Prove It on Me Blues"

They say I do; ain't nobody caught me,
Sure got to prove it on me;
Went out last night with a crowd of my friends,
They must have been women 'cause I don't like no men.

Wear my clothes just like a fan,
Talk to the gals just like any old man,
'Cause they say I do it, ain't nobody caught me,
Sure got to prove it on me.



Vesta Tilley, English music hall male impersonator, ca. 1905

Reference: Judith Halberstam, "Mackdaddy, Superfly, Rapper: Gender, Race, and Masculinity in the Drag King Scene." Social Text 52/53, 1997, pp. 104-131.