Martin Scorsese’s latest feature film The Irishman spotlights veteran Hollywood stars: Al Pacino, and frequent Scorsese collaborators such as Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Harvey Keitel. Scorsese craftily brings together familiar personnel, stories, and visuals in The Irishman to create another one of his mafioso dramas.
But besides the familiar elements of classic mobster movies, the film also features a pleasant surprise for hip-hop fans: a cameo by Action Bronson. Bronson does not boast the prolific acting credits of many of his co-stars. Nevertheless, the popular Queens-based rapper has made a promising start to his run in the industry with this appearance in the long-anticipated Scorsese project.
Beyond his star turn with Scorsese, Bronson continues to release new music. He recently released a new EP in collaboration with producer The Alchemist entitled Lamb Over Rice. He has also released a new book called “Stoned Beyond Belief” and hosts the Viceland TV show “F*ck, That’s Delicious,” which was renewed earlier this year for a fourth season.
Action Bronson Represents Queens
Born Ariyan Arslani, Bronson has also gone by the monikers Bronsolino and Bamba Baklava. He was born in Flushing, Queens to a Jewish mother and an Albanian Muslim father, who wanted to raise his son with his faith tradition. Growing up in Queens in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he encountered the hip-hop culture during its early golden age.
Looking back on his youth, Bronson observes that he found “new ways to explore avenues of rhyme” because he grew up in an immigrant family. “My mother’s, like, a hippy, white woman; Jewish from Brooklyn,” he notes. “She’s the illest ever. My father’s off-the-boat Albanian. So, it’s a crazy mixture.” He recalls one incident in which his father threw his N.W.A. tapes out the window, and his mother retrieved them the next day.
Before considering rap as a professional vocation, Bronson first worked as a chef. In 2009 and 2010, he started posting content online with Action in the Kitchen on Youtube. “The transition of me becoming a rapper from having day-time job happened literally in the snap of a leg,” he says. “I was working, I broke my leg. Couldn’t work for months, so I became a full-time rapper.”
Rising in the Rap Scene
Bronson’s unfortunate accident in the kitchen led to a fortunate twist of events. In 2011, the same year he broke his ankle, he independently released his debut album. He additionally made a collaborative album with Statik Selektah. The next year, he had released a new successful mixtape. He then signed with Warner Bros. via media company Vice, and collaborated with celebrated producer The Alchemist.
Bronson was frequently featured on the VICE Youtube channel. In 2014, he launched his own food-oriented web series. That same year he, Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole accompanied Eminem on a brief tour of Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. By the next year, he had released his major label debut and collaborated with some of his biggest influences.
Bronson’s passion for food continues to spice up his rhymes with references to food, and has led him to publish “An Annotated Guide to Eating Well” in 2017. This year, he has teamed up with Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream in New York for a collection of ice cream sandwiches made with special ingredients, like Japanese citrus fruit yuzu, lemons from Israel, and tonka beans from South America. Morgenstern explains that they have “spent a tremendous amount of time tapping into Action’s nostalgia” to bring them into life.
Action Bronson Releases Lamb Over Rice with The Alchemist
Besides references to food and his experiences, Bronson frequently plays with psychedelic and experimental sounds. He expresses his love for his “hippie” mom, and interest in the music of Turkish psychedelic rock pioneers. These include Barış Manço and Mazhar, Fuat, and Özkan, whom he sampled for the lead single of his major label debut.
Bronson released his new EP with The Alchemist on November 22. The 7-song project can be streamed on Apple Music and Spotify. Readers can also check out his new book “Stoned Beyond Belief,” an extended ode to marijuana. Finally, catch Bronson’s acting cameo as a casket salesman in The Irishman on Netflix.
