Song Exploder - Action Bronson - The Chairman's Intent

Episode Date: July 18, 2018

Action Bronson is a rapper from Queens who’s been making records since 2011. He also stars as the host of two TV shows about food on Vice’s channel, Viceland. His third album, Blue Chips 7000, came out in 2017, and features this song – “The Chairman’s Intent.” It was produced by his longtime collaborator, producer Harry Fraud. In this episode, Action Bronson and Harry Fraud tell the story of how “The Chairman’s Intent” was made. songexploder.net/action-bronson

You're listening to Song Exploder, where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. I'm Rishi Kesh Hirway. This episode contains explicit language. Action Bronson is a rapper from Queens, who's been making records since 2011. He also stars as the host of two TV shows about food on Vices Channel, Vicerland. His third album, Blue Chip 7,000, came out in 2017, and it features this song, The Chairman's Intent. It was produced by his longtime collaborator, producer Harry Fraud. I spoke to Action Bronson here in L.A., and separately to Harry Fraud while he was in his studio in Brooklyn.

In this episode, the two of them tell the story of how the chairman's intent was made. How were you today? This is Action Bronson. My name is Harry Frode. Me on Action first met in 2011. Many, many years ago when I first started rapping, you know, he was hitting me up to work. And I started sending him beats. And then I was like, you know what, fuck this dude keeps on hitting me up, let's go. And then once he pulled out to my studio, we just kind of bonded.

We laughed at the same things. We grew up a similar way, you know. He's a city kid. And I feel like we've built this rapport now that he knows me. I know him. It just works well. So the birth of this song was in his studio in Gowanis. We start really with a blank canvas and, you know, just start by listening to different old records and stuff like that.

Me and my guy Red Walrus, we constantly just are digging for stuff and filing in a way for, oh, this sample would be good for action. So I'm already prepped with an arsenal, so to speak, of things. His boy Walrus, that works with him, he had put a bunch of samples aside for me. He came in, he's like, oh, I have something for you. We came upon this kind of obscure Thai funk song. And man, freaked me out. Like this is exactly what I was looking for. I love Asian funk funk.

I love Asian funk. They're just loose and very druggie. Because of the war, there was a lot of GIs over there, and they were playing music, and they brought the funk during the 70s. And man, they made some incredible music. It's right up my alley. And I love rapping over that type of stuff. It was really the funkiness of how the rhythm and the melody interacted with each other. That caught our ears simultaneously, and we decided let's make something with this.

With action, particularly, it's important to grab his inspiration and put it in the bottle. as quick as we can, because I want him to feel that moment and be able to keep moving. I work very quickly, so it probably took me 30 minutes to put the beat together on the spot. Harry Fraud is a master, you know? For me, it's always about getting something to a pocket. It's a combination of tempo and also how the drums interact. It's important for him to have something that moves you a little bit. So Harry Fraud slowed the original track down.

He found the parts that were still rhythmic and funky, but left enough space for him to fill in with his voice, because his voice is ultimately another instrument in the overall composition of the music. Then there's also that B part. It kind of breathes a little bit. Directly as soon as I heard it, I started writing. When I hear a beat that I like and I hear something that moves me,

it's right away. I don't wait because that feeling is not going to get that again. You look for that feeling while listening to music. Your eyes open wide, you freak out. I always say when I hear my favorite song, I want to crash my car. You know, it's like one of those. You just like, fuck it. Let's just drive off the road.

It just makes me that hype. The thing that started this off, I just was screaming, you don't know me. Yeah, you don't even know me. Yeah, yeah. You don't even know. My man, Evidence sent me an email. And in the headline of the email, said, please give me your 16 bars, and in return, I will give you 16 cars.

So I was like, damn, that's a hot line. So the first line was, these 16 bars cost 16 cars. These 16 bars cost 16 cars. Kiss these balls, bitch, we stars. It's just aggressive, comedic, and every punchline hard. And then I tell people that fuck that shit because you ain't hot like Prince. At the end of the day, I always say this, you're not Prince. Who do you say that to?

To anybody, they're not hot. Don't be all like you're the shit. You're not Prince. He's the man. Fuck that shit. You ain't hot like Prince. Got a little shine, but not like this. When I end that verse, I say,

You're looking at some motherfucking art, boo. You're looking at some motherfucking art, boo. And then it goes into the strings. We brought in cellist to add that string part in the middle. And I just want people to imagine hands behind their back, walking through a gallery, looking at the art, and they just see a statue of me. And I'm just standing there. And then as soon as the second verse starts, I come to life, a fucking breakthrough. The sample is so hard hitting.

So I think it was important to find those moments of, like, dynamic. to break it up a little bit. The chairman's intent. It's kind of like a movie title. That's why we had my men, Young Mexico, come in and play the organ piece for us that starts it. I just felt like it needed a wedding vibe

or a churchy vibe, you know, getting you ready for a sermon. Something to set it up and set the scenes, so to speak, you know, when the credits come up. So you have something so beautiful and elegant and gentle as the organ and then out of no whip.

We kind of explode with that big first scene of the movie. That's what the song feels like to me. You know, just like a high-level 90s blockbuster. And that's kind of the feeling we were trying to convey. Listening to the song, I feel like a vigilante. I feel like I'm driving an old Oldsmobile with 70s of power line with a gun and going to seek revenge against the ganges.

This is that killed my family, you know? I visualize action repelling out of a helicopter on a SWAT team-type mission down onto the roof of a mansion. This could be a boxer's walkout song. It's just energy. You don't even have to like rap. You don't have to like anything,

but when you put that song on and you hear that music, you're a fucking badass. Now here's the chairman's intent by Action Bronson in its entirety. Fuck that shit, you ain't hotline, but not like this. Time crumbles when a jet black and flitted last summer. But motherfuckers forget till I'm back up on a set and every motherfucking jump shot wet. Same outfit every day like a cartoon. They'll never find you in a shark suit and there will never be a part too.

You're looking at some motherfucking art boom. Two puns from the inhaler got me feeling like Lauren's Taylor. Two kisses on the cheek for my tailor. I got the soul of an Amazon healer Better be sure to put them cameras on Turn dreams in the real shit Yeah, I might be sick Sitting courts out, I'm likely lit

Draw blood, I'm already made But little man will cut your face like what it gave I started clapping when the chef brought the duck to the table Uh, that shit was shining like an angel I never trust a dude named angel Long steel, four fifth turn him to an angel The sky opened up and down came me

Young A-B flowing in a jack from the 80s T' like I just left Haiti Looking like I had mad plastic surgery They turn bin-Beam-Bin Chinese And that's fine by me Shit, I need some time to realign my cheek So bitch please pass that by and by sea Before I get up shit

Visit SongExploder.combe.combe Visit SongExploder.net to learn more about Action Bronson And for a link to buy or stream this song. I have a new album of my own coming out on April 24th. It's been about 15 years since I last put out a full length, and this is the first one that'll be out under my own name, Rishi Kesh Her Way. I started making Song Exploder when I was feeling lost in my own music career. And then for over a decade, I've gotten to have these incredible conversations

about the process of making music, talking to other artists, and it made me completely rethink my relationship to music and my way of writing songs. And this album is the product of all of that. It features contributions from some of my favorite artists, including some folks that you may have heard on this podcast, like Iron and Wine, Kevin Morby, Vagabon, Fenlily, and the producer Phil Wine Robe. I'm going to be on tour playing in cities across the U.S. starting in April, and I'm trying to bring the spirit of the podcast with me. So every show that I'm playing will begin with a conversation about the album with a different amazing guest moderator in each city, like Adam Scott, Samin Nasrat, Jason Manzuckus, Josh Malina, Minjin Lee, Ken Jen, Jennings, John Roderick, Austin Cleon, and more. They're all going to be my conversation partners on stage, and then I'll play with my band. The album is called In the Last Hour of Light, and the

first couple songs are out now. You can listen to the music and get tickets for the shows on my website, Rishikash.co, or just go to songexploder.net slash live. That's songexploder.net slash live. Thanks. This episode was produced by me, along with Christian Coons and intern Olivia Wood. Special thanks to Jane Shin for her help making this episode possible. The illustrations for Song Exploder are by Carlos Lerma. Song Exploder is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a collective of fiercely independent podcasts. You can learn about all of our shows at Radiotopia.fm.

You can tell me your thoughts on this episode on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. I'm at Song Exploder. My name is Rishi Kesh Hereway. Thanks for listening.