Leonard Carl Grant (born July 25, 1980), better known by his stage nameUncle Murda, is an American rapper from East New York, Brooklyn. He signed to 50 Cent's G-Unit Records in 2016, having been previously signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records in 2007.[2][3][4] He is known for his annual retrospective "Rap Up" song series, which lyrically documents major events in hip hop, beginning in 2014.[5]
Career
In 2007, his manager and DJ Green Lantern introduced Uncle Murda's music to Jay-Z.[citation needed] The Brooklyn-born rapper/CEO signed Uncle Murda to Roc-A-Fella Records soon after.[citation needed] They started to promote him immediately by placing him on a track with popular label-mates Fabolous and Jay-Z for the song "Brooklyn" (featured on From Nothin' to Somethin' album) and everything seemed to be going well for the rapper.[6] However in late 2008 rumors that Uncle Murda left Def Jam came about.[6] In an interview with DJ Vlad, Uncle Murda confirmed the rumors that he has split from Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella Records claiming everything went downhill since Jay-Z's departure.[6]
On January 22, 2008, Uncle Murda was shot directly in the head while in a parked car on Linden Blvd. in East New York, but was not seriously hurt. Murda would later give contradictory accounts of the incident, saying he was only grazed by a bullet or hit by a piece of glass. The shooting happened after the rapper released his mixtape entitled "Respect the Shooter". He discharged himself from the hospital less than 24 hours after he was admitted, with the bullet still in his skull. Uncle Murda called the nationally syndicated The Wendy Williams Experience radio show after the shooting and told her he was using "Hennessy and Newports to cope with the pain".[8] No charges were filed, as Uncle Murda refused to cooperate with investigators, blaming the police for the shooting.[9]
