Background and career
Leonard Carl Grant (born July 25, 1980), better known by his stage name Uncle Murda, is an American rapper from Brooklyn, New York. He signed to 50 Cent's G-Unit Records in 2016, having previously signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records in 2007.
In 2007, Uncle Murda's signed to Jay-Z's record label Roc-A-Fella Records but was eventually released from the label. On November 8, 2016, Uncle Murda signed a deal with 50 Cent and G-Unit Records.
Since 2014, Grant has released an annual "Rap Up" track on or around New Year’s Day, in which he delivers a lyrical recap of the year’s most talked‑about events in hip‑hop and pop culture, often with blunt and provocative commentary. The series quickly became both popular and controversial; Uncle Murda uses the yearly track to gossip about rapper feuds, political upheavals, sports highlights, and celebrity scandals, frequently drawing attention for his unvarnished opinions. The 2023 rap‑up was so event‑packed that Uncle Murda split it into three separate parts. The 2024 edition, produced by Great John and clocking in at 17 minutes, addressed Diddy’s sex‑trafficking case, JAY‑Z’s rape allegations, the Drake–Kendrick Lamar feud, the YSL RICO trial, and Joe Budden’s lewdness arrest, among other topics. After the 2024 installment, Grant stated that it “might be” his last, having done the series for ten years, though he has made similar statements before. The concept of the yearly rap‑up has also been a point of contention with fellow rapper Mad Skillz, who had been releasing his own "Rap Ups" since 2002 (with a hiatus in 2013). In 2018, Skillz criticized Uncle Murda for copying the idea, leading to a brief feud between the two.
In January 2024, during an interview on The Danza Project podcast, Grant admitted that he had fabricated a claim about being shot in the head early in his career. He stated, "all rappers lie," and explained he had hoped to gain credibility and buzz by emulating the attention rappers 2Pac and 50 Cent received after surviving shootings. Grant recounted that he had been in a car that was shot up, but he was only cut on the head by a piece of glass from the window, causing a small amount of blood. He then exaggerated the incident, falsely claiming he had been shot in the head, hoping to capitalize on the momentum of his song "Brooklyn" (with Jay‑Z and Fabolous).
In 2024, a Rolling Stone investigation alleged that Uncle Murda operated the Instagram promotion account DaBlock365, which was central to a scheme in which high‑profile artists charged independent musicians for promotional opportunities that were often of little or no value.
In 2025, Murda and rapper Tony Yayo launched the podcast The Real Report on the Volume network. The show, which premiered in January 2026, interviews celebrities from the entertainment industry.
