Prior to reading about him in this piece on The Awl today, I’d never heard of the rapper who goes by Action Bronson, though our comrades over at the Smoking Section have been apparently spreading his gospel for some time now. After seeing Awl contributors Cord Jefferson and Seth Colter Walls fawning over his talent earlier, I felt obligated to dig deeper into the works of this husky poet from Flushing, Queens, and ever since I feel as though I’ve experienced some sort of revelation.
Cord: Within the past two weeks, I have developed a deep, deep obsession with a rapper out of Queens called Action Bronson. I’m more excited about him than I’ve been about any rapper since I was about 15 or 16.
Seth: Where did you learn of him? Message board? Record review?
Cord: A friend from Arizona texted me a couple weeks ago and told me to listen to him on YouTube. And since then I’ve done that thing where you watch literally every YouTube video about a person, whether it be a song or just some dinky, terribly produced interview.
I can totally relate to that, as I got sucked into the same Action Bronson internet rabbit hole earlier today. It’s almost impossible not to, I think.
I, like Jefferson, listened to his stuff — filled with lyrics about wine and capers and wrestling and all sorts of other vividly imaginative stuff — on YouTube and wondered, “How the hell does Action Bronson only have a handful of followers on Facebook and Twitter?” The guy even has his own YouTube cooking series! I mean, he’s a pre-packaged multi-faceted star just sitting out there, waiting for us to embrace him. It’s kind of astounding, actually. And most importantly, in the words of one of the Smoking Section’s crew, his music “is what rap from NYC should sound like.” Smart. Genuine. Unique. I guess we’re now catching him when he’s still preparing for liftoff.
Internet, let’s make this man a star, okay? Maybe it’ll make up for us unleashing Justin Bieber upon the world.
(Pics via Action Bronson’s Facebook page)
