It’s been a long time coming, but Queens rapper Action Bronson has finally performed a Tiny Desk concert. The 28-minute production was posted on August 8th, featuring five tracks from four of his recent albums. Bronson was accompanied by his live band Human Growth Hormone, which includes his friend and frequent collaborator, saxophonist Matt “Yung Mehico” Carrillo.
Commonly found rapping over beats that sample multi-instrumental recordings of jazz, rock, or funk, Bronson seemed very comfortable performing with a backing band. He went off script a few times, as he obviously did not feel comfortable dropping some of his more vulgar lyrics in the Tiny Desk setting. The 2015 Mr. Wonderful single “Terry” gave the rapper a bit of trouble; he stated “I also wanna let you know that the edibles just hit, and I’ve been pretty good so far” upon restarting the verse. Besides this minor hiccup (moments like this always add character to a Tiny Desk video anyway), the performers were on point, diving into Bronson’s back catalog for the Knxwledge-produced “Live from the Moon” off 2018’s White Bronco and “Dmitri” from the 2019 Alchemist-collab project Lamb Over Rice. They capped off the setlist with the rapper’s more iconic track “Baby Blue,” and began riffing on the instrumental of Cocodrillo Turbo single “Subzero” as the credits were shown.
Recent endeavors for Bronson include a Baklava Flea Market clothing line, which the rapper sported a t-shirt from, and a notable sneaker collaboration with New Balance. Bronson has released two custom colorways of the New Balance 990 v6 so far, both of which have sold out. Currently on tour with Human Growth Hormone, the talented bunch will be at Union Transfer on Oct. 27th. Tickets are available now via the WXPN Concerts and Events page.