Duki

Mauro Ezequiel Lombardo (born 24 June 1996), known professionally as Duki, is an Argentine rapper, songwriter and singer.

He is the lead voice of Latin trap in Argentina, thanks to his multiple hits with his singles and his particular style of voice and staging.

Mauro Ezequiel Lombardo was born on 24 June 1996, in Almagro, Buenos Aires.

Son of lawyer Sandra Viviana Quiroga and graphic designer Guillermo Luis Lombardo, he has two siblings, Nahuel, a sound engineer, and Candela.

Raised in La Paternal, he had a solid musical influence thanks to his parents, who listened to Argentine rock, salsa, disco and Latin pop.

His mother was a follower of artist Alejandro Sanz, and his father was a fan of bands Queen and Virus.

On the other side, his brother Nahuel was a fan of Charly García and Luis Alberto Spinetta.

During his early teens, Lombardo started to gain interest in punk rock, being a strong listener of Linkin Park, and hip hop, thanks to Eminem and 50 Cent, which lead him to eventually start watching rap battles, which had an important underground following in Argentina.

Influenced by long-time Argentine rappers Kódigo and Tata, he started practicising freestyle with his best friends, which allowed him to gain confidence to start participating in battle competitions.

Alongside this, he dropped high school due to his poor grades.

Duki participated in his first rap battle in 2013, in which he became victorious.

He described it years later as "catastrophic, it was raining, but we ended up wining".

During this time, he formed a rap crew called Atuanorinos Tripulación, and participated in a lot of famous underground rap competitions, such as Las Vegas Freestyle or Madero Free.

Around 2015, he appeared for the first time in El Quinto Escalón, a competition celebrated in Parque Rivadavia, a very centric park in Buenos Aires.

This allowed the competition to become recognized very quickly, with a lot of young rappers starting to rise to a massive following, such as Paulo Londra, LIT killah, or Trueno.

Duki became one of the most praised and recognized MC's due to his flow and strong staging.

Duki began to gain recognition for his appearances in rap battles, such as El Quinto Escalón, which was one of the most important in Argentina, and where he obtained his first share of popularity when he won it in 2016.

He could record his first single, "No Vendo Trap," to pursue a musical career thanks to his victory.

He then released the singles "She Don't Give a Fo" and "Hello Cotto," which garnered him multiple views on YouTube and earned Lombardo a massive following in his home country.

In 2016 he won it for the first time, beating rapper Nacho in the final.

The prize was a session in a music studio to record a single.

Duki recorded his first single, "No Vendo Trap", in November 2016.

The official video was uploaded on YouTube, gaining two million views in just two weeks.

Due to the song's success, the sample producer, Pa$ha, decided to strike the video for copyright, and the platform took the video down.

This did not stop Duki from recording more singles that led him to gain a massive fan base, mostly coming from his battle days.

In late 2016 and early 2017, Duki continued to appear in El Quinto Escalón, now one of the most important competitions in Argentina and South America.

Several of Duki's battles, along with his partner MKS, gained many views on YouTube, some becoming the most viewed battles in Spanish history.

Thanks to his increasing fame, Duki was signed to Mueva Records and released the singles "She Don't Give a Fo" and "Hello Cotto" with producer Omar Varela to launch his music career.

The first one was certified gold by Spain's PROMUSICAE, and both singles suprassed a 100 million views on YouTube, establishing Duki as one of the most promising trap artists in Argentina.

Two weeks later, he participated in Khea's single "Loca", with rappers Cazzu and Bad Bunny, which ranked 45 in the Hot Latin Songs chart and went gold by the RIAA.

In 2018, he formed an important musical trio for the Argentine trap, named Modo Diablo, with artists YSY A and Neo Pistea.

In 2018, Duki formed a trap trio with YSY A, the host of El Quinto Escalón, and Neo Pistea, another promising trap artist in Argentina.

The trio published the singles "Quavo" and "Trap N' Export", gaining a lot of views on YouTube.

In March they performed in the Teatro Gran Rex, which was sold out.

During May, Duki performed his single "Rockstar" with a live orchestra at the Premios Gardel, a performance that received a harsh critical reception, with artist Charly Garcia saying during his acceptance speech that "autotune should be banned".

However, Duki didn't mind Garcia's criticism, stating that "he could say I'm a scumbag and I'd be happy anyway. I love him, I went to one of his concerts when I was younger. I respect him so much that I didn't even respond to him."

During this year, Duki continued to release singles to reach further popularity.

He then released his debut studio album, Súper Sangre Joven (2019), with the lead single "Goteo" being nominated for Best Rap/Hip Hop Song at the 21st Latin Grammy Awards.

In 2020, he collaborated on Bad Bunny's album YHLQMDLG in the single "Hablamos Mañana", which was also nominated in the Latin Grammys for Best Urban Fusion/Performance.

In 2021, Duki released his second album, Desde el Fin del Mundo, which reached number one in digital albums in Argentina.