Eliecer Márquez Duany, artistically known as El Funky, is a Cuban rapper born on November 14, 1981, in Havana, Cuba.
The influence for his music comes from English hip-hop (Tupac, Dr. Dre, Redman, among others). Funky began to identify with these alternative genres thanks to the rap gatherings that took place at the Casa de Cultura in Old Havana, very close to his home, where he had his first encounters with Cuban rap.
At the age of 16, he wrote his first song, which was a salsa, influenced by the Cuban music that was most popular on the island, supported by groups like La Charanga Habanera and los Van Van. A few years later, he was already rapping his own lyrics.
Despite the fact that Funky continues with his songs, the well-known practice of beef typical of urban genres is also present in his repertoire of love compositions.
Known in the Cuban alternative music scene for his presence on hip hop stages, he released his album El Funky presenta: The Zombie Flow in 2014, where he blends rap with Cuban rhythms.
That same year, he participated in the corresponding edition of the “Puños Arriba” awards, which aim to showcase and promote the emergence of new talent and help them establish themselves in the alternative music market. The public received some of the songs from that album presented by Funky with great success.
The impact of Funky is beginning to grow both on and off the island due to his collaborations with the rapper Maykel Osorbo, with whom he has recorded tracks such as Diazcarao, Yamila, and The Aletazo of Alpidio.
Maykel Osorbo is one of the faces of the San Isidro Movement alongside fellow artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. Together, they have become a symbol of resistance for young Cuban artists in their fight against the government to seek change on the island.
El Funky was part of the Cuban Rap Agency, and due to the songs he has recorded with Osorbo, he was asked to voluntarily resign from the agency, an option the young man declined.
In February 2021, El Funky made headlines again when he, along with Maykel Osorbo, Yotuel, Gente de Zona, and Decemer Bueno, recorded the song "Patria y Vida," which had garnered over half a million views in less than 72 hours. The impact and reception of the song by Cubans both on the island and abroad have provoked an intense reaction from the Cuban government, which has targeted the artists. The song promises to be an anthem of freedom in these times.
