At His Portland Show, Action Bronson Proved That He’s More of an Entertainer than a Rapper

Action Bronson is no longer just a rapper. In 2019, people are just as likely to know him for his multiple TV shows, the most popular being Fuck, That's Delicious, as for his musical career.

While his other media endeavors and increased celebrity quotient may have slightly watered down his most recent music, it's done wonders for his stage presence. Onstage at the Roseland on March 8, Bronsolino showed once again why his personality has captivated millions. It didn't matter whether he was playing new material from last year's White Bronco, obscure old mixtape cuts or singles from what retrospectively seems like his most beloved album, 2015's Mr. Wonderful—his boundless charisma and quirky lyrics are as engaging on first listen as they are on the 50th. What other rapper is going to brag about fixing an NCAA basketball game or being "twisted off the jenkem watching Iron Chef"?

It'd be one thing if Bronson used his zaniness to pose himself as an "other" in hip-hop, completely distanced from peers or forebears (cough, cough, Lil Dicky, cough), but a respect for and connection to New York's many vivid lyricists has always been key to his career. On the White Bronco Tour, this meant bringing along not only his right-hand man, Meyhem Lauren, but also the consistently underrated Roc Marciano. A street-hardened yin to Bronson's posi-vibes yang, the two artists bond on colorful wordplay and imagery, which they showed when performing their word-drunk, drumless 2012 classic, "Pouches of Tuna."

Bronson may never recapture the spontaneous spark of his early material, but he'll be entertaining people in one way or another for years to come.