Uncle Murda

Known for tracks such as “Bullet Bullet,” “Right Now,” and his annual “Rap Up” installments, Leonard Grant is a gruff and plainspoken rapper who represents Brooklyn’s East New York neighborhood as Uncle Murda. Active since the tail-end of the ’90s and a long-term DJ Green Lantern associate, Grant has released numerous mixtapes, including the Don't Come Outside series (2017-2021). Uncle Murda issued his first tape in 2005, and his exposure was increased two years later by a deal with Def Jam. The rapper and the label split after Jay-Z left his post as label president, before any studio recordings reached the public. Primarily an independent artist, Grant later had one of his commercial mixtapes, The First 48 (2013), issued through an arrangement with major-label Epic via Violator. In 2016, the year he and Maino released a collaborative tape titled Yellow Tape: King Kong & Godzilla, he signed to 50 Cent’s G Unit label. “Thot,” “Statute of Limitations,” and “On and On,” the latter two of which featured 50, arrived the following year, as did Uncle Murda Presents: Don't Come Outside, Vol. 1. Some of these releases were alternately credited to Lenny Grant. Don't Come Outside, Vol. 2 and Don't Come Outside, Vol. 3 (the latter featuring “Rap Up 2020”) were issued in 2020 and 2021. ~ Andy Kellman