MIXTAPE REVIEW: Action Bronson- Rare Chandeliers

Action Bronson has released a lot of material in the past two years, so it’s been kind of hard to keep up. First there was that Dr. Lecter album that came out in June of 2011. Then he released a bunch of mixtapes, including this year’s really good Blue Chips mixtape with Party Supplies. Now, he’s dropped yet another mixtape, this time with legendary producer Alchemist.

While I’ve liked most of Bronson’s past material, I’ve never really loved  his work. He has a booming and nasty flow, but his lyricism sometimes gets in the way. He veers between talking about his food (Which I’m cool with) and graphic sexual talk (Which I’m not as cool with). He also normally has production I like, but it’s never really memorable. Here, I was hoping that a few of those little nit picky issues would change. Bronson has really matured over the past couple of projects, and it’s shown. Plus Alchemist is a fantastic producer. The man had the power to salvage that mediocre Domo Genesis EP earlier this year.

The tape does immediately show promise. The beat on Big Body Bes Intro is just lush and bold. Then Bronson immediately goes hard on Rare Chandeliers, using a fiery flow over the James Bond-esque beat. The samples that Alchemist uses in-between Bronson’s verses are absolutely wonderful, adding a sense of more old school Hip-Hop to the tape. Which I really like.

Really, the thing that sticks out here isn’t Action Bronson, but Alchemist. Each beat sounds like its been tended to with the greatest care. Everything sounds just perfect. Plus, it shows that you don’t need SBS (Southern Boom S**t) beats in order to sound aggression or tough. I mean, Bronson is a big fluffy fat guy who has a thing for fine cuisine, and on this tape he sounds absolutely mean. In fact, Alchemist’s beats sound even better than much of his own past work. While his beats on No Idols did improve that tape, the beats were a bit one note and boring. Here, they live and breath, being exciting without taking too much attention away from Bronson. I mean, the saxophones on I Deserve You are absolutely great (along with the soul samples). In fact, this tape really feels like some early era Kanye West production. And I’m totally cool with that.

The guests here sound pretty good. They all have voices that match the feel of the tape, which is something that normally doesn’t happen. I especially like the track with Black Hippy’s Schoolboy Q (Someone that always sounds better on guest verses than his own tracks). For the most part, Bronson does his best here. His flow is fiery and his lyrics aren’t disgusting to the point of me wanting to turn off the tape. The lyrics aren’t particularly interesting, which is a little gripe I have, but they aren’t bad. I’m just glad he’s not graphically talking about vaginas and celery in the same verse as much. And if he does, I was too distracted by the fantastic production and the sound of his voice on the beat to really take notice.

Summary: Rare Chandeliers is Bronson’s best project yet, with some fantastic production, a bold flow, and some solid guests.

Choice Cuts- Rare Chandeliers, Demolition Man, B***h I Deserve You,

Also, that Mixtape Cover is fantastic.

4/5

Stream the entire tape below. You can download Rare Chandeliers here