Multi-hyphenate New York rapper Action Bronson is the latest performer to lead one of NPR‘s Tiny Desk Concerts, the live performance series set behind Bob Boilen‘s desk at the nonprofit media organization’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Along with his five-piece live band, Human Growth Hormone—comprised of Matt “Yung Mehico” Carillo (keys, sax), Nicholas Coleman (bass), Wahkiba “9Ether” Julion (drums), Red Walrus (Percussion), and Julian Love (guitar)—the Flushing, Queens native dressed five songs from across his catalog in jazz-funk curtains for his 28-minute Tiny Desk Concerts appearance.
According to Tiny Desk Concerts producer Bobby Carter, who wrote the accompanying blurb for the new performance video, “We instruct our guests to face the directional microphones so that our recorders clearly pick up the voices. Action warned us of the improbability of that happening before we started filming and sure enough, the Flushing, Queens emcee strolled off mic a couple of times, did an about face here and there and even took a knee mid-show. By the time we got to ‘Latin Grammys,’ he looked over to our engineer Josh Rogosin and said, ‘I told you I couldn’t stand still. How do you play music still?’ He’s got a point.”
Bronson has never been good at “standing still” when it comes his career, either. He’s been a cook, a rapper, a TV host, a food tour guide, a motivational fitness journeyer, a self-help book author, a painter, a fashion tastemaker, a wrestler, and more, but the central cog in the Bam Bam Baklava machine has always been his affable mix of streetwise bravado, self-effacing humor, man-of-the-people approachability, and loquacious appreciation for life’s finer points.
He’s also never been shy about his love for weed (“Smoke good, f—, eat, drink / Drive nice car, wear all green mink,” he raps on 2015 Mr. Wonderful track “Terry”). Bronson somewhat appropriately lost his train of thought during that song at his Tiny Desk Concert, his stream of lyrics turning to jibberish before he called on his band to stop and try again. “If I don’t do it right, it’s not right,” he said with characteristic charisma before the second take. “I also want to let you know the edibles just hit. And I’ve been pretty good so far. I’ve been holding my s— together.”
The crowd laughed with understanding, content to catch a little bit of Action’s charming glow, screw-ups and all. He played into the incident as he gave it another go, massaging his head as he rapped as if he was trying to summon the lyrics through the edible fog hanging over his brain and glazing over his eyes. The audience ate it up. After making it through the song, he added, blushing slightly, “I was in another world, excuse me, for a second.”
Watch the Action Bronson Tiny Desk Concert below and scroll down to view the full setlist for the performance. To watch more NPR Tiny Desk Concerts, head here.
Action Bronson – NPR Tiny Desk Concert – Full Set
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Setlist: Action Bronson | NPR Tiny Desk Concert | Released 8/8/23
Set: Dmitri, Live from the Moon, Latin Grammys, Terry, Baby Blue