Duke Montana, stage name of Duke Barker, better known as Grind Muzik Rap King or The King of Rap is an

Italian-American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

, actor, author and businessman. He collaborated with several Italian and American rappers, including

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

Kool G Rap Nathaniel Thomas Wilson (born July 20, 1968), better known by his stage name Kool G Rap (or simply G Rap), is an American rapper. He began his career in the mid-1980s as one half of the group Kool G Rap & DJ Polo and as a member of the Juice Cr ...

, Lil Ortega,

Onyx Onyx is a typically black-and-white banded variety of agate, a silicate mineral. The bands can also be monochromatic with alternating light and dark bands. ''Sardonyx'' is a variety with red to brown bands alternated with black or white bands. ...

Club Dogo Club Dogo is an Italian rap group from Milan that consists of Gué Pequeno, Jake La Furia and the beatmaker Don Joe. The group grew out of the friendship between rappers Gué Pequeno (whose stage name was Lucky Luciano) and Dargen D'Amico in ...

Fabri Fibra Fabrizio Tarducci (born 17 October 1976), known professionally as Fabri Fibra, is an Italian rapper. In his career he has sold more than 2.3 million certified copies. Biography Tarducci was born in Senigallia, Italy. He became interested in m ...

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

Coolio Artis Leon Ivey Jr. (August 1, 1963 – September 28, 2022), known by his stage name Coolio, was an American rapper. He was best known for his single "Gangsta's Paradise" (1995), which won a Grammy Award, and was credited for changing the cours ...

, and

Ice-T Tracy Lauren Marrow (born February 16, 1958), known professionally as Ice-T (or Ice T), is an American rapper and actor. He is active in both hip hop music, hip hop and heavy metal music, heavy metal. Ice-T began his career as an underground r ...

. He is the father of the Multi-Platinum producer Sick Luke.

Personal life and early career

Duke Montana was born in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

to an American father and Italian mother. In the early years of his life he lived in Santa Ana, Los Angeles. In the early 1990s, when he was fourteen, Montana founded his first hip-hop collective, Power Mc's, together with the producer Ice One and Julie P. with which he released the ''Power to the People LP''. He also collaborated with important members of the American rap scene including

and starred in the film ''

Le amiche del cuore ''Close Friends'' (Italian language, Italian: '' Le amiche del cuore'') is a 1992 Italy, Italian teen drama film directed by Michele Placido. It was entered into the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs section at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival. Cast ...

'', directed by

Michele Placido Michele Placido (; born 19 May 1946) is an Italian actor, director and screenwriter. He began his career on stage, and first gained mainstream attention through a series of roles in films directed by the likes of Mario Monicelli and Marco Belloc ...

, playing the role of himself. During those years he spent his life between Corpus Christii,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and finally

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. There he performed in many live concerts until 2000, when he finally settled in Italy.

Career

In 2008 Duke Montana took part in the album ''Ministero dell'Inferno'' (2010), including collaborations with Italian rappers such as

Marracash Fabio Bartolo Rizzo (born 22 May 1979), known professionally as Marracash (), is an Italian rapper. Starting his career in the rap group Dogo Gang, he debuted as a solo artist rising in fame in the 2010s releasing six studio albums that reache ...

, and

Noyz Narcos Emanuele Frasca (born 15 December 1979), known professionally as Noyz Narcos or simply Noyz, is an Italian rapper. He is also a member of the Italian hip-hop collective TruceKlan. Biography Beginnings, first crews and ''Non dormire'' (199 ...

. During these years he performed in many concerts all around Italy and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. In 2011 he gave birth to the project "Black Bandana Click". Dukemontana

In 2011, Montana released the album ''Grind Music II'', self-produced and distributed by

Edel Music Edel is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Abraham Edel (1908–2007), North American philosopher and ethicist * Alfred William Edel (c. 1930–2005), American television news presenter * Apoula Ede ...

. In the same year he published his further album, ''Stay Gold'', produced by Sick Luke. It included collaboration with the American hip-hop group Onyx ("Bloodsport"), Club Dogo ("Carta Viola"), Fabri Fibra ("Alphabet Killers"), and other mainstream and underground rappers. In 2012, he recorded the track "Smashin' (Italian Remix)" featuring Onyx and

The Beatnuts The Beatnuts is an American hip hop group and production duo from New York City. Its current members are JuJu and Psycho Les. JuJu (born Jerry Tineo on December 14, 1968) is a Dominican American from Corona and Psycho Les (born Lester Fernandez ...

. Currently he is the president of Golden Age Biz, his personal label, which has a partnership with

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

for distribution and

Live Nation Entertainment Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American multinational entertainment company that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. It promotes, operates and manages ticket sales for live entertainment internation ...

for his live tours. It also deals with the production of Black Barz and other emerging underground rappers. On 15 July 2012, Montana opened the first and the only Italian date of the American rapper

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and actor. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he signed with the local independent label Rostrum Records to re ...

, in Milan, together with

Fedez Federico Leonardo Lucia (born 15 October 1989), better known by the stage name Fedez (), is an Italian rapper, singer-songwriter, social media personality, and businessman. In 2011, he released the albums ''Penisola che non c'è'' and ''Il mio pr ...

.RBL Music Italia
, Duke Montana opens Wiz Khalifa's Italian tour

Cinema

*1992 – ''Le amiche del cuore'' directed by Michele Placido. *2016 – ''Zeta'', film

Discography

Albums

*1991 – ''Power to the People'' (Power Mc's) *2000 – ''Atlantis Land'' –

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

*2008 – ''Ministero dell'Inferno'' (Truceklan) – Propaganda Records *2008 – ''Street Mentality'' – Propaganda Records *2010 – ''Grind Muzik'' Mixtape – Propaganda Records *2012 – ''Grind Muzik II'' prod.

Don Joe Club Dogo is an Italian rap group from Milan that consists of Gué Pequeno, Jake La Furia and the beatmaker Don Joe. The group grew out of the friendship between rappers Gué Pequeno (whose stage name was Lucky Luciano) and Dargen D'Amico in ...

Shablo Pablo Miguel Lombroni Capalbo (born Buenos Aires, 17 November 1980), known professionally as Shablo, is an Argentinian-Italian DJ and music producer. He currently lives in Perugia. Life and career Born in Buenos Aires in 1980 from an Italian fami ...

, Sick Luke –

*2012 – ''Stay Gold'' prod. Don Joe and Sick Luke –

*2013 – ''Black Barz Mixtape'' – Golden Age Label *2014 – ''Grind Muzik 3 Mixtape'' –

*2016 – ''Raw'' –

*2018 – ''Grind Muzik 4'' – Kazal

Single tracks

*2000 – ''Atlantis World'' *2000 – ''

Da Hip Hop Witch ''Da Hip Hop Witch'' is a 2000 American comedy film directed, produced and written by Dale Resteghini. A parody of the 1999 independent horror film ''The Blair Witch Project'', the film features appearances by musicians Eminem, Mobb Deep, Ja Rule, ...

'' (soundtrack) *2006 – ''Lovin' Lola'' (Summer Hits 2006) *2009 – ''Diss Track'' feat. Truceklan

Collaborations

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montana, Duke Italian male rappers Underground rappers Italian male pornographic film actors 1976 births Living people Italian people of American descent Gangsta rappers American male rappers 21st-century Italian musicians 20th-century Italian musicians 20th-century Italian male actors 21st-century Italian male actors Male actors from Rome Musicians from Rome Male actors from Orange County, California Rappers from California People from Santa Ana, California 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians