KITCHEN WIZARD “Nobody raps about food like I do,” says Action Bronson, who’s become an underground hero this year thanks to two albums (this spring’s Dr. Lecter and the brand-new Well Done) stuffed with mouthwatering references to delicacies like carpaccio and duck prosciutto. “I rap about fine dishes — things that only real foodies know about.” That’s because Bronson was a working chef until just 18 months ago, when he left his job cooking postgame meals for the Mets to start rapping. “I worked in kitchens my whole life,” says the half-Albanian, half-Jewish Queens native. “But all my friends were making music, so I said, ‘Fuck it. If everybody else can do it, why can’t I?'”
HOLY GHOST Close your eyes when Bronson kicks a verse, and you’ll swear you’re listening to the Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah: The resemblance is uncanny, from the insistent, nasal vocal register to the tough yet jovial attitude. “Ghostface is one of the best rappers ever,” the MC says — but even so, he’s getting a little tired of the constant comparisons. “I’m my own person,” he says. “I can’t change my voice.”
SPECIAL SAUCE Bronson doesn’t cook for a living anymore, but he still spends plenty of time in the kitchen. “My go-to dish is a bucatini pasta with olive oil and a little bit of sour diesel mixed into it. I extract the sour into the oil, then I toss it with some broccolini, red-pepper flakes and toasted garlic. I could eat that every day. It gets me goddamn demolished, man.”
