Herbert Brown, better known as McGruff, is an American rapper from Harlem

Harlem

Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...

.

McGruff originally started his career as a member of the rap group, Children of the Corn, alongside Big L

Big L

Big L may refer to:* Lamont Coleman , better know by Big L, American hip-hop artist.Or a number of British radio stations:*Big L 1395, a British radio station.*Radio Luxembourg's English-language progammes ....

, Cam'ron

Cam'ron

Cameron Giles , better known by his stage name Cam'ron or "Killa Cam", is a Grammy-nominated American actor. He is the founder of the hip-hop group The Diplomats , and also of The U.N. group....

 and Mase

Mase

Mason Durell Betha , better known by stage name Mase who was previously known as Murda Ma$e, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor and inspirational speaker...

, all of whom would go on to have successful careers in the music industry. After the group disbanded without releasing any material, McGruff made his first appearance on Big L's debut album, Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous

Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous

Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous is the debut album of American hip hop artist Big L, released March 28, 1995 on Columbia Records. Recording sessions for the album took place primarily at Powerplay Studios in Queens, New York during 1994 to 1995. The title originates from the television series,...

on the tracks "8 Iz Enuff" and "Dangerzone". Eventually, McGruff signed a deal with popular hip hop label, Uptown Records

Uptown Records

Uptown Records was an American record label, founded by Andre Harrell in 1986. It went on to become one of the most popular Hip-Hop and R&B labels of the late 1980's and early 1990s. Featured on the roster were such luminaries as Guy, Heavy D & The Boyz, Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, and Soul for Real...

 and began recording his debut album, Destined to Be

Destined to Be

Destined to Be is the first and only album released by rapper McGruff.Released on June 16, 1998 through Uptown Records, Destined to be featured production from Uptown Records president Heavy D, along with prominent hip hop producers Ty Fyffe and Warryn Campbell...

. In early 1998, the album's lead single "Before We Start" became a minor hit, charting on several Billboard charts. In the Summer of 1998, Destined to Be was released but failed to sell many copies, only peaking at 169 on the Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

, and McGruff was released from his contract. McGruff would make appearances with Heavy D on his album, Waterbed Hev

Waterbed Hev

Waterbed Hev is the first solo album and sixth album overall by rapper Heavy D. The album was released on April 22, 1997 for Uptown Records and was produced by Heavy D, DJ Battle Cat and Tony Dofat. This marked Heavy D's first album without "The Boyz", DJ Eddie F and G-Wiz. Waterbed Hev made it...

and the Woo soundtrack

Woo (soundtrack)

Woo is the soundtrack to the 1998 comedy film, Woo. It was released on May 5, 1998 through Epic Records and consisted of hip hop and R&B music...

, his latest appearance was on Mase's 2009 mixtape "I Do the Impossible".

He was recently featured Heavily on The Diplomats mixtape, "The D.I.P. Agenda."

Studio albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions, showing year released

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...	US R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...
Destined to Be Destined to Be Destined to Be is the first and only album released by rapper McGruff.Released on June 16, 1998 through Uptown Records, Destined to be featured production from Uptown Records president Heavy D, along with prominent hip hop producers Ty Fyffe and Warryn Campbell...	Released: June 16, 1998 Label: Uptown Uptown Records Uptown Records was an American record label, founded by Andre Harrell in 1986. It went on to become one of the most popular Hip-Hop and R&B labels of the late 1980's and early 1990s. Featured on the roster were such luminaries as Guy, Heavy D & The Boyz, Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, and Soul for Real... Format: CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...	169	19