Action Bronson – “Johan Sebastian Bachlava the Doctor” review

New York City emcee, songwriter, chef, wrestler & television host Action Bronson enlisting Daringer & The Alchemist to produce his 8th full-length studio LP. Blowing up with release of his debut album Dr. Lecter in 2011, he then landed a joint venture with VICE Music & Atlantic Records while following up his debut with a couple EPs & mixtapes. The most notable being the Blue Chips duology, Saab Stories & my personal favorite: Rare Chandeliers. He then put out his major label debut Mr. Wonderful in 2015 & it has some of his best songs on there, but the end result would be a more glitzy mixed bag. He fulfilled his contracts by dropping Blue Chips 7000 & celebrated his freedom the next year in the form of White Bronco which were both solid, but didn’t reach the caliber of Lamb Over Rice the Thanksgiving after. Only for Dolphins though was pretty mid given that some of the production choices were questionable & Cocodrillo Turbo was a bounce back. As for Johan Sebastian Bachlava the Doctor, I went into it hoping it would be Bronson’s best album yet.

“Splash (Provocativ)” is this relaxing, jazzy opener showcasing a new fragrance from Bachlava when it’s all said & done whereas “SEGA” works in some haunting organ melodies from Uncle Al referring to himself as that muthafucka you don’t wanna rump with since he’ll moonsault off the top of a boat like WWE Hall of Famer, 6-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion, WWE Hardcore Champion, IWGPヘビー級王座, the inaugural 6-time TNA World Champion, TNA X Division Champion & 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champion Kurt Angle. “Nourish a Thug” hooks up pianos as well as kicks & snares from Daringer talking about taking temperatures the old fashioned way just before “Hideo Nomo” strips the drums explaining that his horoscope told him to get more cake out here.

Meanwhile on “Salvaje”, we have Bronson over more laidback production looking to smash guitars over heads like the 2nd longest reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion & WWE Hall of Famer The Honky Tonk Man did to current AEW manager, WWE Hall of Famer & former SMW Heavyweight Champion Jake “The Snake” Roberts on top of comparing a battle to one between the late WWE Hall of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper who had his last match in Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) vs. current AEW/ROH performer Dustin Rhodes leading into Meyhem Lauren joining him for the rock-influenced “Hogan” humorously talking about bitches who look like the inaugural IWGPヘビー級王座, former 12-time WWE world champion, WWE tag team champion, 2-time WWE Hall of Famer & Real American Beer founder Hulk Hogan.

“Citrus Wahoo” featuring Meyhem once again lecturing you for what you did wrong only to get stomped out with Bronson comparing himself to WWE Hall of Famer as well as their current Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative & NXT Head of Creative Shawn Michaels, but then “Kompressor” featuring Larry June charmingly talks about always coming through.

“NBA Leather on NBC” featuring The Alchemist himself jumps over keys & a harmonica pairing up the New York Knicks & the Chicago Bulls while the song “Shadow Realm” pours his heart off talks about trying to take off for so long in the midst of everyone hanging from land again. “Doctor” ends the LP drumlessly comparing his life to a scene from the 1979 masterpiece Apocalypse Now.

I’m really proud to see where Action Bronson has come in over a decade from his initial rise to the top over a decade ago to Fuck, That’s Delicious’ increasing popularity & even his brief AEW appearances in at All Out IV & Grand Slam II. Now over 13 years since his debut tape, he celebrates his mom’s born day by releasing my new favorite full-length of his. For only a half hour, we get a heart-to-heart dedication to all the Day 1s & even the newest members in Bachlava’s coalition.

Score: 4.5/5

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Action Bronson – “Cocodrillo Turbo” review

Action Bronson is a 38 year old MC from New York City who blew up with release of his debut album Dr. Lecter in 2011. He then landed a joint venture with VICE Music & Atlantic Records while following up his debut with a couple EPs & mixtapes. The most notable being the Blue Chips duology, Saab Stories & my personal favorite: Rare Chandeliers. He then put out his major label debut Mr. Wonderful in 2015 & it has some of his best songs on there, but the end result would be a more glitzy mixed bag. He fulfilled his contracts by dropping Blue Chips 7000 & celebrated his freedom the next year in the form of White Bronco which were both solid, but didn’t reach the caliber of Lamb Over Rice the Thanksgiving after. Only for Dolphins though was pretty mid given that some of the production choices were questionable, but I was more optimistic going into his 7th full-length album given the lead single earlier this month.

“Hound Dog” is a rock-tinged opener produced by Daringer declaring himself as such whereas the self-produced “Tongpo” with Conway the Machine goes into bluesier territory with both of them getting in their battle rap bag including a reference to WWE Hall of Famer, former 3-time WWE Champion, 11-time WWE tag team champion, the inaugural WWE Hardcore Champion, CWA World Tag Team Champion & TNA World Champion Mick Foley. Hologram tags along for the piano-laced “Estaciones” talking about estimation just before “Jaws” works in a flute & guitar so that Bronson can compare himself to that of a crocodile.

Meanwhile on “Sub0”, we have Bronson on top of some more jazzier production provided by The Alchemist delivering some sick punchlines leading into Meyhem Lauren coming into the picture for the dusty “Turkish” talking about needing the money on the table by this morning. “Jaguar” takes a more soulful route thanks to Roc Marciano spitting some witty braggadocio, but then “Zambezi” finds Marci jumping on the mic with Bronson on top of a beat with some rock undertones to it delivering mafioso bars.

The penultimate track “‘91” shoots for a more keyboard heavy sound addressing those who said he disappeared by explaining he was only practicing while “Storm of the Century” ends the album with a drumless instrumental mixing elements of rock & jazz as Bronson talks about doing things that only the devil happens to know of referencing the late WWE Hall of Famer, former WWE Champion, 2-time WWE United States Champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 4-time WWE Tag Team Champion, 2-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion, 2-time ECW World Television Champion & AAA Mundial Parejas Campeon Eddie Guerrero.

I really didn’t know what to expect from Cocodrillo Turbo given the mediocrity of Only for Dolphins but much like Lamb Over Rice, I came away from this album looking at it as one of his best projects in a while. The production is a lot more consistent than it was 7 months ago & I really admire that Bronson decided to bring back the Dr. Baklava alter ego.

Score: 4/5

Action Bronson – “Lamb Over Rice” review

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This is the 3rd EP from New York rapper, writer, chef & television presenter Action Bronson. Who blew up with release of his first 2 studio albums Dr. Lecter & Well-Done in 2011. This resulted in a joint venture with VICE Music & Atlantic Records along with a couple EPs & mixtapes. The most notable being the Blue Chips duology, Saab Stories & my personal favorite: Rare Chandeliers. Then came Bronson’s major label debut Mr. Wonderful in 2015 which has some of his best songs on there, but the end result would be a more glitzy mixed bag. Bronson’s next effort Blue Chips 7000 would go back to his mixtape roots & it would be his final release on VICE/Atlantic, as he would go onto form the EMPIRE distributed Action Bronson Corporation last year & debuted the imprint with the solid yet somewhat rushed White Bronco. Other than that, Bronson has put out very little music throughout 2019. But with Thanksgiving next week, he has decided to get back with The Alchemist for Lamb Over Rice. Which is honestly the most excited I‘ve been for an ‪Action Bronson‬ project in a while given the quality of his past few projects along with the fact that Alchemist’s production seems to bring the best out of Bronson like on that Rare Chandeliers mixtape & or the Mr. Wonderful single “Terry”, which I can make the argument for being the best song Bronson has ever put out.

The opener “Dmtri” finds Bronson angrily rapping about about knockin’ it out of the box over a calming instrumental while the song “Sven” saying his competition ain’t shit over an almost futuristic sounding beat. The track “Tear Away Shorts” flexes over a boom bap beat with rich keyboards while the song “Accountrements” gets confrontational over a funky bass-line. The track “Descendant of the Stars” is a hard hitting theme song for Bronson’s show Traveling the Stars referencing WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson while the song “Just the Way It Is” details his love life over a boom bap beat with a continuous piano note. The EP then finishes off with “Arnold & Danny”, where Bronson & Uncle Al both rap about success over an instrumental that sounds like something out of a 70’s flick.

I was expecting this to be Action Bronson’s best project in a while & that’s definitely what I got. Bronson sounds a lot more focused than he did on White Bronco & much like Rare Chandeliers, the instrumentals that Alchemist bring to the table fits Bronson’s personality like a glove.

Score: 4.5/5

Action Bronson – “White Bronco” review

Action Bronson is a 34 year old MC who blew up with release of his debut album Dr. Lecter in 2011. He then landed a joint venture with VICE Music & Atlantic Records while following up his debut with a couple EPs & mixtapes. The most notable being Blue Chips duology, Saab Stories & my personal favorite: Rare Chandeliers. He then put out his major label debut Mr. Wonderful in 2015 & it has some of his best songs on there, but the end result would be a more glitzy mixed bag. He returned last summer with Blue Chips 7000 & now that he’s completely independent, he has decided to celebrate with his 5th full-length album.

The album kicks off with “Dr. Kimble”, where he gets boastful over a rap rock instrumental from Harry Fraud. The “Irishman Freestyle” is an average theme for the upcoming Martin Scorsese film The Irishman that’s due next year & the song “Mt. Etna” talks about depression over a relaxing Daringer instrumental. The track “Live from the Moon” is filled with interstellar references over a jazzy Knxwledge beat while the titular song feels like a return to Bronson’s old school style from the braggadocious bars to the smooth boom bap beat from Daringer.

The track “Brutal” with Meyhem Lauren sees the 2 spitting battle bars over a guitar & an organ while the song “Prince Charming” is a soulful love tune. The track “Telemundo” sees Bronson getting confrontational over a wailing guitar while the song “Picasso’s Ear” talks about drug use over a soothing Knxwledge instrumental. The penultimate track “Ring Ring” gets back on the boastful tip over a Harry Fraud instrumental with some funky bass & then the album finishes off with “Swerve on ‘Em”, where Bronson links up with A$AP Rocky to talk shit to their competition over a dreamy instrumental with some punchy drums.

Overall, this was pretty solid. The production could’ve been a little bit better at some points & a couple of the features were pretty much pointless, but I gotta commend Bronson for sounding a lot more focused & comfortable than he ever did on his last 2 albums with Atlantic.

Score: 3.5/5