The old paradigm for making it as a rap artist was that you had talent and you were found by someone who already established themselves somewhere in the industry. Then you were signed to a label and began working with studios and producers that were selected for you. While the old standard still exists in some ways, part of the new standard is that you can take your career in your own hands before being signed. For Action Bronson, this is building relationships with producers. As a rapper, you already know how important the perfect beat is to your rhymes. So why not connect with the best producers you know? Action Bronson’s ability to write clever verses prompted beat juggernaut Statik Selektah to reach out to him on Twitter. Although Action Bronson didn’t initially have the motivation to rap, his lyrical capacity was reason enough for his emcee friends to influence him to start. So now Action Bronson, the Albanian rapper who raps without even trying is hard at work. Much like his culinary skills, he seems to possess a natural talent for rapping that can only be described as one of New York’s finest. Sure he isn’t signed to a label just yet, but people are starting to wake up and take notice.
- Action Bronson was born on December 2, 1984 in Flushing, Queens, New York.
- His father is Albanian and his mother is Jewish.
- Action attended Bayside High School but then dropped out and started cooking at his father’s Mediterranean restaurant.
- He also attended the Art Institute of New York City’s culinary school but dropped out.
- Action gave up being a gourmet chef to become a rapper especially after being influenced by friends.
- He is part of the rap squad called The Outdoorsmen with Meyhem Lauren, and A.G. Da Coroner and Jay Steele.
- His lyrical style has been compared to Ghostface Killah and Big Pun.
- Action’s style is influenced mostly by New York MC’s like Mobb Deep, Kool G. Rap, and Cam’ron.
- He says his influences in general are movies like House Party and the culture of hip hop.
- In 2010, he released the mixtape Bon Appétit….Bitch!!! and The Program EP.
- Action released his third mixtape called Starving on Reality in early 2011.
- His first studio album was released in 2011 called Dr. Lecter.
- Statik Selektah reached out to Action on Twitter and invited him to work on a couple of tracks together.
- After working with Statik Selektah he released his second album in late 2011 called Well-Done which was produced entirely by Statik.
- In 2011, Action collaborated with Ghostface Killah on ‘Meteor Hammer’ on Wu-Tang Clan’s album called ‘Legendary Weapons’.
- His mixtape titled Blue Chips produced by Party Supplies is set to be released in March 2012.
- Action is also working on albums produced by The Alchemist, Tommy Mas and Harry Fraud.
- Action Bronson has been added to the 2012 SXSW lineup along with T.I., Big Krit, and Wiz Khalifa just to name a few.
- He will be combining forces with Cormega, Roc Marciano, and Saigon to form a super group called MARS.
Being new to the game and social media, here is what Action Bronson said about how he feels about the internet in an interview with LAStereoTV: “With the internet these days you could be poppin tomorrow. Someone could literally make a song in their basement, in the bathroom, while they’re taking a shit for that matter, put it on the internet and go fuckin viral and that’s it, your outta here. After you go viral, your outta here, record labels…off one song. The internet, it’s a crazy thing. Me myself, I haven’t had the internet since AOL 3.0 and that’s like 11 years ago, you know that’s like the early 2000’s, I just recently brought a computer this year and I feel that I’m trapped in like this matrix constantly. I’m going through different channels and surfing. It’s overload. I think that we need to get back to not having so much overload because things go too quickly; they come and go so easily. I remember back in the days you’d get an album and you wouldn’t get anything else until next year. It is THE reason why anyone heard my music… because of the internet.”
Post by: Rosie J – music marketer
@StudioDiva
