I try to look at things through the eyes of Dr. King/And then I wonder are we really fulfilling the dream?/Are we content, are we done with making progress/Just the thought of that alone's kinda hard to process...
If you don't know your history, you find you repeat it/If you don't know you in the fight, you already defeated/They got you thinking that your brother is your rival/If we killing each other, then what's the chance of survival?
Man, we tell 'em that Black Lives Matter/But they gotta matter to us first/'Cause in the hood it's talk later and bust first/But they don't wanna call it genocide/Look at the pen and the color of the men inside...
The above lyrics, from the track "Get Up" ft. Young B.E. off Live From The Pentagon, are just a sampling of the profound and flowing thoughts that pour from new rap duo 3Bubble & J.Gray on their debut LP.
The artistic connection between the Houson act was instantaneous, and it wasn't long after meeting that they found themselves in the studio together, recording rhymes with a laidback (and 90's throwback) feel, like the Outkast-esque funk anthem "No Lie," featured below:
Both J.Gray and 3Bubble bring years of musical experience to their latest joint endeavor. J.Gray honed his skills at the High School for Performing & Visual Arts (HSPVA) when he discovered he could not only sing, but also rap after being asked to freestyle during a battle amongst his peers. He spent years preforming and perfecting his craft in rap showcases, where he met 3Bubble, a hardworking and hustling recording artist in his own right with two solo LPs already under his belt.
Live From The Pentagon isn't just a promising debut--it's flat out good. And you should buy it. Its strongest moments will take you back in time--not only to when Outkast ruled the waves, but to tracks by Puff Daddy, Biggie Smalls, and 2Pac--when MTV was indistinguishable from BET, when 90's rap was king. There are also parts of Pentagon that hit on something fresh, that come of more as a reboot than a replay of 90's rap, like what Kanye attempted to do with Kurt Franklin and other collaborators on Life of Pablo. If this album can make it into Kanye's hands, it might not be long before he's collaborating with 3Bubble & J.Gray too.