HAAM Musician Spotlight: Mama Duke
Photo by Ismael Quintanilla III.
HAAM Musician Spotlight: Mama Duke
“A year after the COVID-19 pandemic shook the Austin music community to its core, rapper and singer-songwriter, Kori Roy, aka Mama Duke, joined the HAAM family and enrolled in a health insurance plan. A month later, she got her first free dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at Emo’s. And in a few short months, September 14 to be exact, Mama Duke will perform live at her first HAAM Day fundraiser. ”
Mama Duke, moved to Austin in 2009 after spending a year in Houston studying photography at the Art Institute. Like countless musicians before her, Mama Duke, who identifies as a mixed-race queer woman, was drawn to Austin because of the city’s reputation as the “Live Music Capitol of the World.”
Three months after settling into the Capitol City, Mama Duke was tapped to open for “Naughty by Nature,” a major coup for the musician who was raised by a Mexican-American mother and a Black father in the small town of Palacios, Texas. But it didn’t take Roy long to realize that the hip-hop scene in Austin was nascent and that the music scene as a whole was largely white.
“There wasn’t really a hip-hop scene in Austin when I got here. But that inspired me, rather than demotivated me,” said Roy, who has since earned two Austin Hip-Hop awards and one Austin Music Award nomination.
Today, Mama Duke is hoping to inspire musicians of color to make the same life-changing decision she made a few months ago: to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Mama Duke got both doses of the vaccine at special clinic sponsored by Austin Public Health, Sendero, C3 Productions and HAAM located inside the legendary Emo’s club.
“When I got that first vaccine, it was such a relief. I almost cried,” said Roy.
But Roy admits that like many persons of color she was initially wary about getting the vaccine.
“I didn’t know enough about it and wanted to wait and see,” Roy said.
After doing their own research, Roy and her wife, Dj Meme Keeley, decided to get the shot not just to protect themselves, but to protect the community. Another motivator? Getting back on stage.
“Hell yeah, I want to get back on stage. But I wanted to get back on stage with a clear mind,” Roy said.
Since becoming fully vaccinated, Mama Duke has started scheduling live shows, including HAAM Day 2021, and has been able to participate in studio sessions with other vaccinated people.
“During quarantine, we learned how to complete songs over Zoom, said Roy. “But there is nothing that compares to the music you can make with another human being next to you. You feel watched. You feel seen. You feed off each other.”