Glenn Clifton Jr. was born on June 6th, 1974 and passed away on November 1st, 2025. That’s the way it is for all of us flesh time mortals. Our physical forms do not last forever. It’s possible that the ineffable quality we call a “soul” lasts beyond the flesh, but there’s no evidence to prove or disprove that. Your religious beliefs may form your own conviction about an afterlife; as for me, I’m decidedly undecided. What I am sure of is that in his 51 years Glenn lived a full life and experienced more from it than many of us who will have shorter or longer stays on this Earth.

Like so many people born in the mid-1970’s (including yours truly) Glenn came along at the perfect time to grow up alongside hip-hop music and culture. From an early age Glenn was fascinated by both the poetry his mother read to him and the poetical insights of Run-D.M.C. on the M-I-C. If you look up to ballers you might aspire to play basketball. If you look up to pilots you might aspire to fly a plane yourself. Glenn looked up to the emcees of his day and said hey, a kid from Baton Rouge can do that too, I’m going to give it a try.

Glenn experienced his first success locally as part of a group called Concentration Camp, but it was when he linked up with Master P that the name Young Bleed was recognized nationally. I’m sure his family and friends still knew him as the literal G he was born, but the rest of us didn’t call him Mr. Clifton, we called him Mr. How Ya Do Dat Dere. Thanks to the booming success of No Limit Records in the 1990’s, Young Bleed’s star rose alongside his peers, causing his album to go gold and securing his spot in the rap scene for decades to come.

It’s never easy to continue a career when you peak at the start and your own label lacks the heart to push your music at the same level. As the once swoll No Limit Tank started to drop weight and tried to remain a going enterprise, Young Bleed was once of the soldiers sacrificed under those iron treads. To Glenn’s credit he never quit even when Percy Miller quit on him. With over a half-dozen albums since his departure from the label, Bleed kept on hustling and putting out independent projects like “Once Upon a Time in Amedica.” They were not throwaway projects trying to capitalize off his old shine — no these were quality albums that lacked only the quality distribution he had on a major label.

It was left to a loyal RapReviews reader from Germany to inform me of Bleed’s passing, and in doing so ask me to pay tribute to him on the website. It’s fair to say the news he suffered a brain aneurysm shortly after performing his best known song in Las Vegas came as a shock, and the fact he died from it less than a week later is absolutely heartbreaking. I’m not sure how any tribute can ease the pain his friends, family and fans have been feeling since November 1st. What I can say though is simply this — Glenn Clifton Jr.’s life proved that a young kid growing up in Baton Rouge can have big dreams and do big things if he’s daring enough to follow them. Just as Run-D.M.C. inspired him to chase those rap dreams, Young Bleed’s success no doubt inspired many others to pursue theirs too. Rest easy soldier.