The first thing Action Bronson bought with rap money: “That’s how I roll”
Action Bronson was a breath of fresh air when he entered the hip-hop scene in the early 2010s. His energy and style of rapping, complete with acclaimed projects like Blue Chips and Rare Chandeliers, made him stand out from the crowd. His success as a rapper also led to a fruitful career related to his other passion, food, hosting successful shows such as Fuck, That’s Delicious and The Untitled Action Bronson Show.
The 41-year-old may have found success in music, but it wasn’t always his dream. The Queens native initially picked up rapping as a hobby; the next thing he knew, it took over his life. While many MCs aspire to be musicians from their teenage years, it took Bronson until the second half of his ’20s to start his career.
“I don’t know if it ever dawned on me that it was what I wanted to do, it just kind of took over,” he told GQ. “I was doing it as a hobby and then it just became an obsession, like most things in my life, because I’m an obsessive person. I become addicted to things and music became my new vice, my new muse, when I was around 26. I was a late bloomer.
“I’d always loved music up to that point and was like a jukebox, but I hadn’t created my own until then. It served as some sort of therapeutic situation, as all art does in that it is a release. It releases what we seek in life, so this release was just another amazing feeling and then music just took over my life.”
Bronson didn’t even realise he was good at rapping until some friends started hyping him up. “I didn’t realise it myself: a couple friends of mine put the battery in my back,” he said. “And I know these dudes, they’re not just trying to hand compliments out, you know? So that gave me a little bit of confidence and I started building it on my own, thinking, ‘Yeah, I can do it. This is me right here.’”
Material things like clothes, jewellery and cars have always been a stereotype for rappers. There’s no escaping it. But Bronson thinks of himself as someone with an eye on the future and sensible about spending. Still, he treated himself to a new BMW when he first got money from rapping, and he even got it inked on his body.
“Listen, I’m the type of person where I like to hold on to the bread, I like to make sure that there is generational money,” he explained. “I don’t need all the fancy trinkets hanging off of my neck. So the first thing I actually purchased with any type of rap money was a BMW 535 wagon. It’s tattooed on my left arm and I have it to this day. It’s my only fancy car.”
He added, “Well, I have another fancy car, but I don’t drive it. I drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee every day – that’s how I roll. It’s brand-new, the radio works, the seats are soft, four-wheel drive to get us through that rugged terrain in New York and it’s got turbo!”