Jay-Z protege Tru Life faces eight years in prison for role in gang slay / Jay-Z speaks out about shooting his brother at age 12

A Lower East Side rapper once signed by Jay-Z pleaded guilty Wednesday to gang assault, and his brother to manslaughter, for a fatal stabbing in Kips Bay.

Fallen hip hop star Tru Life, whose real name is Robert Rosado, now faces eight years in prison.

He and Marcus Rosado, were originally charged with murder for the June 15, 2009, death of Christopher Guerrero, 20, inside the lobby of a building on E. 26th Street. A second victim was left in critical condition.

The bloodshed capped a night of a night of feuding that started outside Club Pacha in Hells Kitchen.

Marcus Rosado's lawyer, Joel Cohen, said his client 'fessed up to manslaughter - and not murder - because there was "no intent to kill."  Marcus faces 10 years behind bars.

Cohen said Marcus Rosado, 39, admitted that he, and not his 34-year-old brother, stabbed both vics.

Because Tru Life didn't wield a knife, he was allowed to plead to gang assault, his lawyer, Alam Abramson, said.

"They wish to express their deepest sympathies to the Guerrero family and it's their hope that by accepting responsibility they can bring some measure of closure to the family," the two defense lawyers said in a joint statement.

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Jay-Z is revealing one of his deepest secrets - he shot his brother when he was 12.

The 40-year-old superstar rapper opened up about the ordeal that has haunted him since childhood, growing up in Brooklyn's Marcy projects.

The millionaire founder of Roc-A-Fella Records recalled to the Guardian of London how he blasted his drug-addicted sibling over a stolen ring.

"I thought my life was over. I thought I'd go to jail forever," he said of the shooting.

Jay-Z's memoir "Decoded," set to hit bookstores next week, reveals details of his rags-to-rap-royalty ride, but this is the first time he's publicly addressed his darkest moment.

"It was terrible. I was a boy, a child. I was terrified," he told the newspaper's Weekend magazine.

His brother survived the shooting, refused to press charges and apologized for his addiction when Jay-Z went to visit him in the hospital, he said.

The 10-time Grammy winner and part owner of the New Jersey Nets said he once hinted at the violent confrontation in his music. In his song, "You Must Love me," he rapped, "Saw the devil in your eyes, high off more than weed, confused, I just closed my young eyes and squeezed."

He also spoke of growing up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where "guns were everywhere" and he was forced to dodge bullets at least three times. "It's like there was some rogue angel watching over us," he said.