3Bubble & J. Gray | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | 3 & J |
| Origin | Houston, Texas, United States |
| Genres | Hip hop, Southern hip hop, luxury rap |
| Years active | 2014–present |
| Labels | LFTP Entertainment |
| Members | Cleon "3Bubble" Solomon Justin "J. Gray" Gray |
| Website | 3bubbleandjgray |
3Bubble & J. Gray is a US hip hop duo from Houston, Texas. [1] [2]
3Bubble is a rapper from Houston, Texas, where he graduated from Worthing High School in 2000. He came up with the stage name 3Bubble from a moniker for the 3rd Degree in which he wrote out the number three and with a numerical degree sign. He turned this unique marker into the word "bubble" to ensure it was hard to forget. [3]
J. Gray is a rapper who attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts for two years to study music but ultimately graduated from Westside High School. Gray realized that he was not only a talented singer but also a good freestyle rapper during battles against his peers. [4]
As 3Bubble & J. Gray, the two have released a total of three studio albums and have collaborated on other artist tracks such as Patrick Adams's track Invisible and the Major Deal Original Soundtrack. [5]
In 2016, 3Bubble & J. Gray released their album, Live From the Pentagon.
In May 2016, the duo released their debut album Live From The Pentagon, [6] which was chosen as one of the best albums of 2016 by Paste. [7]
Their sophomore album, Pentagon Memoirs, was released in September 2016 out of frustration from not receiving support from their hometown fans and is a blend of Hip hop and soul. [8]
LFTP Season Vol.1 is their latest creation and is meant to be a collection of studio tracks and collaborative freestyle sessions that mesh a combination of styles from trap to soul and hip hop. The album consists of nine tracks with features by R.A.G.S and label mates J. Sariah, Robert Hodge and King Kelechi.[ citation needed ]
3Bubble & J. Gray are influenced by soul and passion from different genres, including Scarface, Lil Keke, Jay-Z, Bilal, Jamie Foxx, Slick Rick, 8Ball & MJG and OutKast. [9] The Huffington Post described the duo as "The New Outkast" and described their sound as "more as a reboot than a replay of 90’s rap." [4] [10] The duo's debut album Live From The Pentagon incorporates Funk, Pop, Soul and EDM into a classic Hip Hop sound. [11] [12] The duo cites some of the most influential albums or songs that made an impact on them as John Mayer's album Room for Squares , Outkast's single Liberation, Scarface's single Someday, Bilal's single Sometimes, and Future's single March Madness. [13]

Aquemini is the third studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast. It was released on September 29, 1998, by LaFace Records and Arista Records. The title is a portmanteau of the two performers' Zodiac signs: Aquarius and Gemini, which is indicative of the album's recurring theme of the differing personalities of the two members. The group recorded the majority of the album in Bobby Brown's Bosstown Recording Studios and Doppler Studios, both in Atlanta, Georgia.
Geto Boys was an American hip hop group originally formed in Houston, Texas. They saw commercial success in the 1990s with the lineup consisting of Bushwick Bill, Scarface and Willie D. The group became best known for their 1991 single "Mind Playing Tricks on Me", which peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100. Formed in 1986, the group was active until the 2019 death of Bushwick Bill.
Southern hip hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Florida—often titled "The Big 5," five states which constitute the "Southern Network" in rap music.
G-funk, short for gangsta funk, is a sub-genre of gangsta rap that emerged from the West Coast scene in the early 1990s. The genre is heavily influenced by the synthesizer-heavy 1970s funk sound of Parliament-Funkadelic, often incorporated through samples or re-recordings. It is represented by commercially successful albums such as Dr. Dre's The Chronic (1992), Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle (1993), and 2Pac's All Eyez on Me (1996).

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is the fifth studio album by the American duo Outkast. It was released on September 23, 2003, by Arista Records. Issued as a double album, its length of over two hours is spread across solo records by Big Boi and André 3000.
André Lauren Benjamin, known professionally as André 3000, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and flutist. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he was one half of the Southern hip hop duo Outkast along with rapper Big Boi, which the two formed in 1992. Benjamin is widely regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time.

The Source is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or semiannually. It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by David Mays.
Stankonia is the fourth studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast. It was released on October 31, 2000, by LaFace Records and Arista Records. The album was recorded in the duo's recently purchased Atlanta recording facility Stankonia Studios, which allowed for fewer time and recording constraints, and featured production work from Earthtone III and longtime collaborators Organized Noize.

"Ms. Jackson" is a song by the American hip hop duo Outkast, consisting of André 3000 and Big Boi. It was released on October 24, 2000, as the second single from Outkast's fourth album, Stankonia. It topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week on February 17, 2001, and reached number one in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. Rolling Stone ranked it 55th on its "100 Best Songs of the 2000s" list in June 2011 and at number 145 on its "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list in 2021. On October 2011, NME placed it at number 81 on its list of the "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".

Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik is the debut studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast, released on April 26, 1994, by LaFace Records and Arista Records. Having befriended each other two years prior, rappers André 3000 and Big Boi pursued recording music as a duo and worked with production team Organized Noize, leading to a record contract with LaFace. With the team producing, Outkast recorded the album at the Dungeon, D.A.R.P. Studios, Purple Dragon, Bosstown, and Doppler Studios, all in their hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.

"Mind Playing Tricks on Me" is a song by Geto Boys, featured on their 1991 album We Can't Be Stopped. The lyrics describe the mental anguish and exhaustion of life as a gangster, including dealing with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, paranoia, suicidal ideation, and loneliness. It also samples "Hung Up on My Baby" by Isaac Hayes, from his 1974 film Tough Guys. At the song's peak, it reached 23 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the highest-charting single by the Geto Boys.

"The Way You Move" is a hip-hop and soul song by the American hip hop duo OutKast, performed by its member Big Boi. The song features OutKast mentor Sleepy Brown on guest vocals. Along with "Hey Ya!", recorded by OutKast's other member André 3000, "The Way You Move" is one of the two lead singles from Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, OutKast's double album project that includes a solo album from each member.
Contemporary R&B is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music.

Rap-A-Lot is a hip hop record label co-founded by James Prince and Cliff Blodget in 1986. Smoke-a-Lot Records is a subsidiary.
Michael George Dean is an American record producer, audio engineer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his synthesizer-heavy instrumentation and audio mixing for high-profile music industry artists. Beginning his career in 1992, he was first credited on releases for Texas-based rappers such as Scarface, Willie D, and Geto Boys, although he has since worked with artists including The Weeknd, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, Jay-Z, Drake, Madonna, Selena Gomez, Playboi Carti, and Lana Del Rey, among others. As a non-performing lead artist, Dean has released five solo studio albums: 4:20 (2020), 4:22 (2021), Smoke State 42222 (2022), 4:23 (2023), and 424 (2024).
Christopher James Gholson, better known by his stage name Drumma Boy, is an American record producer and rapper.
Anthony Lawson Jude Ifeanyichukwu Obiawunaotu or Anthony Lawson Obi, better known by his stage name Fat Tony, is a Nigerian-American rapper.
Alternative hip hop is a subgenre of hip hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising "hip hop groups that refuse to conform to any of the traditional stereotypes of rap, such as gangsta, bass, hardcore, and party rap. Instead, they blur genres drawing equally from funk and pop/rock, as well as jazz, soul, reggae, and even folk."
Outkast was an American hip hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi and André 3000. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential hip hop acts of all time, the duo achieved both critical acclaim and commercial success from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, helping to popularize Southern hip hop with their intricate lyricism, memorable melodies, and positive themes, while experimenting with a diverse range of genres such as funk, psychedelia, jazz, and techno.
Brad Terrence Jordan, better known by his stage name Scarface, is an American rapper and record producer, notable for his solo career and as a member of the Geto Boys, a hip-hop group from Houston, Texas. Raised in the city's South Acres neighborhood, he has been ranked by The Source as one of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time, while About.com ranked him in the top ten of its "50 Greatest MCs of Our Time (1987–2007)" list.