Race record

Race records were 78 rpm phonograph records marketed to African Americans during the 1920s through the early 1940s. They primarily contained race music, comprising a variety of African American musical genres including blues, jazz, and gospel music, though comedy recordings were also produced. These records were, at the time, the majority of commercial recordings of African American artists in the US (very few African American artists were marketed to the "general audience"). Race records were marketed by Okeh Records,Emerson Records,Vocalion Records,Victor Talking Machine Company,Paramount Records, and several other companies.

Terminology

Such records were labeled "race records" in reference to their marketing to African Americans, but white Americans gradually began to purchase such records as well. In the 16 October 1920 issue of the Chicago Defender, an African American newspaper, an advertisement for Okeh records identified Mamie Smith as "Our Race Artist". Most of the major recording companies issued special "race" series of records between the mid 1920s and the 1940s.