Unfortunately, his efforts were for naught during his lifetime. Despite becoming known as "the King of Ragtime Writers," Joplin did not see ragtime develop into the respected genre that he hoped to see. Even when his compositions became popular, "no music publisher considered the ballet marketable enough to publish" (Haskin 39). .
It was not until almost sixty years after his death that his music began to soar and ragtime was revived to inspire a style of ragtime that the Tin Pan Alley school in New York City made mildly popular. On the contrary, blues had its "origins in early slave laments, but that had undergone a transition along with the lives of the people who sang them" (Haskin 44). The blues reflected the sorrows of the early plantation slaves and had a much darker origin in comparison to ragtime. A notable musician that emerged after listening to black laborers singing the blues was William Christopher Handy. Handy, became a household name after he composed a lively tune for Mr. Crump's election. Though he did not get it published, his composition of "Memphis Blues" was picked up by a promoter and became a best seller. These two musicians, Joplin and Handy, paved the path for James Reese Europe to popularize jazz. He led the 369th infantry during World War I across the nation to play jazz. He was able to "[bring] it to a popularity that most would not have thought possible" (Haskin 55). The development and the musicians that carried these genres culminated together to produce jazz.
On top of the origins that came together to inspire jazz, the respective genres of ragtime and blues differ in their forms. Ragtime broke from the traditional strict form commonly heard in brass bands, and individualized itself to create the defining characteristics. Ragtime was played in "ragged" time, otherwise known as syncopation. It was reminiscent of the clicking of the heels of black dancers who deviated from the Christian hymn rhythms.