During the late 1970s, Puba first got into hip hop after purchasing cassettes of his favorite artists such as The Cold Crush Brothers, T-Connection and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

[8][9] It's album Dynamite (1988) was hailed by critics, but because of lack of sales the group soon disbanded and Puba became the lead emcee of Brand Nubian after working out a deal with A&R Dante Ross and signing to Elektra Records.

[7][9] After their debut album One for All (1990) — covering areas from reggae-influenced hip hop music to new jack swing — Puba left the group after disputes and began a solo career.

In 2009, Grand Puba released his fourth solo album, Retroactive, featuring production from Q-Tip, Large Professor, Kid Capri as well as fellow Brand Nubians.

Puba also appeared on the heavy posse cut "Fresh" together with Cormega, KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane, DJ Red Alert and PMD.