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.
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. Thanks to his victory, he was able to record his first single "No Vendo Trap" to pursue a musical career. 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 2018 he formed an important musical trio for Argentine trap, named Modo Diablo, with artists YSY A and Neo Pistea. 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 in 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.
Early life
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 strong 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 start 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.
Career
2013-2016: Early years and success in rap battles
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 which was 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. 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. This made Duki record his first single, "No Vendo Trap", in November 2016. The official video was uploaded on YouTube, and it gained two million views in just two weeks. Due to the success of the song, the producer of the sample 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.