Muki The Dook a/k/a Papadook The Poet

She moved to Atlanta from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with her parents, when she was eight. Her mother, grandmother, family, and ancestors, have music in their blood. Muki said, “It felt like something I should be doing. Instruments always attracted me. Watching and feeling. But I’m going to take guitar lessons in the summer.”

From third grade, when she was eight, at Ralph McGill, until 13, she played drums. She had a violin but did not pursue it in high school. “I was attracted to band. But sports attracted me, more. When I became an adult, I realized my body was not going to endure being in sports,” Muki lamented.

In 2016, Muki attended her first open mic. She liked to watch band members create music. In 2017, she started composing poems and jingles. She writes in her journal things that come to her mind, her associations. But she is mostly an informative, impromptu style of a poet. Her eight copywritten pieces are published through Anverob, her mother’s publishing company. She would like to get to 25 pieces. Two works are on a mixed tape anthology of Atlanta poets.

As she negotiated the clubs where open mics are featured, Muki met many poets and musicians She recognized that, “The opportunities for male musicians appear to be greater than for women who play instruments.”

She’s been on stages for seven years. Sometimes, she does showcases and tours with her Mom, Mimi Johnson of Caustic Dames fame

in Atlanta and abroad. They call it The Ma and Pop Show. “I call her Ma and all of my friends call her Ma. And I’m Pop. It started as a one night event, but people gave us donations to continue doing it,” Muki said.

It was important that people had a safe space to bring their artistry. “We branded the show with social media and novelties like T-Shirts, cup holders, and mouse pads. We did the show for a year and a half, until COVID hit,” Muki recounted. Now, they do the show every first Wednesday at Black Coffee in Atlanta. About 40 people sign up to get on stage, but they can only fit 20 to 22 people from 8 p.m. to 12 midnight. Aside from spoken work artists, musicians, singers, and even painters come to enjoy each other’s artistry.

On May 4, 2023, Muki hosted the 4th year of her erotic poetry event called The Vibration at The Love Below Speakeasy, 555 Whitehall Street, SW Suite G7, Atlanta, GA 30303, on the first Thursdays from 8 to 12 midnight. She hosts a showcase with up-and-coming singer, Genesi, who sings her songs and is joined by her friends onstage on Saturdays at The Love Below Speakeasy. Sometimes, Muki gets dinner or free studio time for MCing shows, but mostly, she gets paid.

Muki and Mimi will be in Chicago in June 2023. They recorded an EP entitled The Ma and Pop Show, available on all music platforms. They made a music video with three songs viewable on YouTube on The Ma and Pop Show Channel. We’re on Instagram and their website is

www.themaandpopshow.com.

Muki considers herself to be a mentor in the poetry circle. She loves to help artists learn to brand themselves and come out of themselves onstage. Her advice to young people coming into the music industry is “Do it anyway! You gotta be nervous. Be afraid and do it anyway. Mess up and do it again!”

She would be on the stage, visibly shaking, “anxiety through the roof, but these are strangers that I don’t know and shouldn’t be caring about,” Muki admitted.

She learned to manage those feelings. She said, “You don’t overcome those butterflies in a lifetime. These people don’t owe you anything and you don’t owe them anything. This is for you. You can do it! Do it anyway!”

The Sis is a play on words with the Black woman, highlighting adversities for being black and a woman. Advocate piece from 2020, written during the pandemic.

Headland and DeLowe, where I was raised in East Point, where Outkast had a heavy influence in the Hip Hop community in the same neighborhood.

Bars, an a capella rap, more than poetry. Double entendres, cheeky lines, and clever associations with me being who I am.

http://themaandpopshow.com