Action Bronson

Known for detailed wordplay imbued with filth and humor, Action Bronson draws influence from the likes of fellow Queens native Kool G Rap and Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah, and calls upon his past life as a chef to spit major culinary knowledge. The rapper emerged from the underground in the early 2010s and crashed the Top Ten of the Billboard 200 with Mr. Wonderful (2015), his major-label debut, featuring the gold-certified Chance the Rapper collaboration “Baby Blue.” He has since expanded his reach as a television personality, author, and actor, and has juggled this work with continued artistic growth displayed on full-lengths such as Blue Chips 7000 (2017) and the Loma Vista-issued efforts Only for Dolphins (2020) and Cocodrillo Turbo (2022).
A New York City native from Queens’ Flushing neighborhood, Bronson, born Ariyan Arslani, developed his first area of expertise in his family’s restaurant. After studying at the Art Institute of New York City’s culinary program, he filled multiple roles in the restaurant industry. Serious effort wasn’t put into rapping — which he had started on a lark — until a broken leg precluded kitchen work. Bronson’s first major showcase arrived in the form of a 2007 mixtape as a member the Outdoorsmen, which was trailed by several guest verses and a solo single. His career truly achieved flight in 2011, a year in which he released his debut mixtape, as well as his first two proper albums, Dr. Lecter and Well-Done, the latter co-billed to producer Statik Selektah.
After Bronson issued mixtapes recorded with Party Supplies and the Alchemist, the rapper made his major-label debut on Atlantic (via Vice) in 2013 with Saaab Stories, a Harry Fraud-produced EP. Given an extra boost by appearances from Prodigy and Raekwon, two of Bronson’s key ’90s hardcore inspirations, the EP peaked at number six on Billboard’s rap chart. Another collaborative tape with Party Supplies was out by the end of that year. Bronson continued to stockpile guest verses on the way to third album Mr. Wonderful. The success of pre-release single “Baby Blue,” featuring Chance the Rapper, helped take the full-length to number two on the rap chart and number seven on the Billboard 200.
In 2016, Bronson took his food-and-travel web series, Fuck, That’s Delicious, to cable television, and only a few months later launched a second series for the Viceland channel, Traveling the Stars: Action Bronson and Friends Watch Ancient Aliens. The Traveling the Stars theme “Descendant of the Stars,” “Durag vs. Headband,” and the Suicide Squad: The Album inclusion “Standing in the Rain” also reached the public during 2016. Another album for Atlantic, Blue Chips 7000, and a book, Fuck, That’s Delicious: An Annotated Guide to Eating Well, arrived in 2017. He also starred in a cooking show of the same name. The following year, Bronson self-released his fourth album, White Bronco, which featured the Daringer-produced title track and a handful of Knxwledge collaborations highlighted by “Prince Charming.”
Although Bronson continued to diversify through the end of the 2010s and into the 2020s — he appeared in the films The Irishman and The King of Staten Island, for instance — it didn’t slow his musical output. Teamed again with frequent collaborator the Alchemist, he returned near the end of 2019 with the Lamb Over Rice EP, and at the start of 2020 added key inspiration Kool G Rap to the list of artists who have received one of his guest verses (heard on “A Queen’s Thing”). Bronson’s next album, Only for Dolphins, arrived in 2020 with the rapper’s typically brash rhymes outfitted with wide-ranging productions referencing Latin soul, reggae, and even mid-’80s Russian fusion. 2022’s Cocodrillo Turbo featured similarly trippy production, as well as guest appearances by Conway the Machine, Roc Marciano, Meyhem Lauren, and others. ~ Andy Kellman & David Jeffries