Action Bronson has made a name for himself with his unique personality, illustrious production, and quippy flow and lyrics. He continues that with flying colors on his latest release “JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACHLAVA THE DOCTOR”.
Being more than just a hip-hop artist, Action Bronson has become a somewhat renaissance man with endeavors in acting and his food travel show on Viceland, “Fuck, That’s Delicious”. Still, the core of his work is in rap and hip-hop, and he has been a constant figure since his early work in 2010.
The Chef Beginnings of Action Bronson
Ariyan Arslani grew up in Queens, NY, and originally started in the food business, working with his father in a Mediterranean restaurant. He dabbled in some rap during this, but after he started his online video series, “Action in the Kitchen”, he decided to commit to music full-time.
“Well Done” would be Action Bronson’s debut album in collaboration with Statik Selektah. His big break came with his second studio album, “Mr. Wonderful”, including standout songs like “Terry”, “Actin Crazy”, “Easy Rider”, and the well-known “Baby Blue” featuring Chance the Rapper.
More albums were to follow, including beautiful covers for “Lamb over Rice”, “Only for Dolphins”, and “Cocodrillo Turbo”. The most recent album, “JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACHLAVA THE DOCTOR”, stands out as a truly amazing rap record.
Action Bronson’s Clever and Comedic Lyrics
Action Bronson opens the record with the relaxing and luxurious-sounding track “SPLASH (PROVOCATIV)”. An electric guitar freely solos in the background with a saxophone coming from nowhere to create a conversation in the production. His lyrics are said in Action Bronson’s typical alluring tone, even when mentioning Teanna Trump.
These funny lyrics are a stable of Action Bronson’s persona and exist throughout the whole record. “KOMPRESSOR” includes ad-libs that create this unserious tone, with the line “I’m catching alleys off the backboard for a sick old dunk” being echoed with “That’s a fuckin’ sick dunk”.
Besides references to basketball on that track on “NBA LEATHER ON NBC” (with production heavily influenced by vintage NBA Finals themes), the album is also littered with wrestling references. Besides having unique production, and sounding like a desert level in a Super Mario game, “SALVAJE” mentions many wrestling stars, like The Honky Tonk Man, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, the classic Rock Bottom, and Rowdy Roddy Piper.
Action Bronson’s Production Gold
Besides Action Bronson’s forever hilarious tongue-in-cheek lyrics, the production on this record is exceptional. The production is extremely diverse, with the flying-high-pitched synths and bumping percussion of “NOURISH A THUG” being immediately followed by the grand trumpets and simmering chords of “HIDEO NOMO”.
The final two tracks of the record may be some of the uniquely produced rap songs of the year. “SHADOW REALM” has swelling sampled vocals, sounding as angelic as ever, accompanied by a piercing mandolin ripped right out of a 70s noir film. “DOCTOR” has an isolated guitar with a fading piano interjecting with chords and lines of its own, creating this Western-movie landscape with Action Bronson having his last stand for the final track.
What stands out besides the astounding production is the lack of percussion on these two tracks. Action Bronson acts as a drum, creating the tempo with his detailed lyrics. The production is truly a work of art on this record, turning Action Bronson from Mr. Baklava to Bachlava the Doctor.
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