Duke Montana, stage name of Duke Barker, better known as Grind Muzik Rap King or The King of Rap is an Italian-American rapper, actor, author and businessman. He collaborated with several Italian and American rappers, including

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

, Kool G Rap, Lil Ortega, Onyx,

Club Dogo Club Dogo was an Italian rap group from Milan (Lombardy) that consists of Guè Pequeno and Jake La Furia, and beatmaker Don Joe. The group was born in 1999 from the friendship between rappers Gué Pequeno (whose stage name was Lucky Luciano) and ...

, Fabri Fibra,

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close affili ...

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

Personal life and early career

Duke Montana was born in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

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 Sebastiano Ruocco (born May 16, 1966), better known by his stage name Ice One, is an Italian rapper, beatmaker and writer from Turin, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in ...

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 Onyx, Ice-T,

and starred in the film '' Le amiche del cuore'', directed by

Michele Placido Michele Placido (; born 19 May 1946) is an Italian actor, film 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 ...

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

Corpus Christii Corpus is Latin for "body". It may refer to: Linguistics * Text corpus, in linguistics, a large and structured set of texts * Speech corpus, in linguistics, a large set of speech audio files * Corpus linguistics, a branch of linguistics Music * ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and finally

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. 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, better known by his stage name 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 reached the top ten ...

, Fabri Fibra, and

Noyz Narcos Noyz Narcos, stage name of Emanuele Frasca, also known as Noyz or White Zombie, (born December 15, 1979) is an Italian rapper, beatmaker and writer. He is also a member of the Italian hip-hop collective TruceKlan. Biography Beginnings, fir ...

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

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. 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 Edel ...

. 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. 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 global entertainment company and monopoly that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates, and manages ticket sales for live entertainme ...

for his live tours. It also deals with the production of Black Barz and other emerging underground rappers. On the 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. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 200 ...

, in Milan, together with Fedez.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 record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

*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 was an Italian rap group from Milan ( Lombardy) that consists of Guè Pequeno and Jake La Furia, and beatmaker Don Joe. The group was born in 1999 from the friendship between rappers Gué Pequeno (whose stage name was Lucky Luciano) a ...

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

Collaborations

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montana, Duke Italian rappers Underground rappers Italian male pornographic film actors 1976 births Living people Italian people of American descent Gangsta rappers 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