How did Ghostface Killah & Action Bronson get on the same track together? It’s a pretty common question that’s been asked about the Wu-Tang album “Legendary Weapons” and their song “Meteor Hammer” so let me shed some light. I first came across Bronson’s music on Nahright.com. The promo single artwork for a song called “Amuse Bouche” was what got me to listen to the track. The cover featured what looked like one of the post-apocalyptic thugs from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, one of my favorite childhood movies. The song didn’t have a hook, just Bronson spitting a couple tough as nails verses over what sounded like some vintage DITC production. I liked his bravado on the track, the flow was precise and his style reminded me of somebody else…. Ghostface Killah? I remember distinctly turning on iTunes and listening to some recent Ghostface tracks and comparing the two styles. Sure there were similarities, but I was convinced very early on that Action Bronson was his own entity and wasn’t biting anybody. He reminded me of Big Pun or Kool G Rap almost as much as he did Ghost. With all the “cuddle rap” that’s out, I wish more rappers emulated some of the hardcore NYC legends. “Amuse Bouche” turned out to be just an appetizer for the things to come. For the next couple months his music started to pop up more frequently on the blogs I visited. It became clear to me that the guy was coming into his own and was going to make a lot of noise for himself.

With praise, comes hate. Whenever I saw a track of his posted on a blog or saw his name on the forums, the love was there, but the hate was right there with it. Bronson was quickly deemed a “Ghostface dickrider” by some. I disagreed. It seemed to be just a quick, lazy comparison. Were people really listening?

When Bob asked me who I wanted featured on the Wu-Tang album “Legendary Weapons” that we were working on, I put together a “wish list”. At the top of the list were names like Jay Electronica, Pharoahe Monch etc… A majority of the names on the list Bob was familiar with, but I wanted Bronson on a track with Ghost, so I snuck him in on the list somewhere between Roc Marciano & Sean Price. Bob asked me who Bronson was & I explained the deal; that he was really dope & that him on a track with Ghost would be somewhat controversial. Hate it or love it, it would be another topic of discussion when people talked about the album. What better way for people to make their mind up about Bronson than hearing him rap alongside Ghostface.

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After reaching out to a couple people, we got word Bronson was with it. He had just flown into LaGuardia that night and took a cab straight to the studio. He was very humble when we spoke about how I heard his early material & wanted him on the track with Ghost. He had his verse all ready to go and with just 2 takes he nailed it perfectly. I asked him if he wanted to add any adlibs or back-ups, and he said no. “Leave it raw and dirty” he said, which is exactly what that verse is; raw and dirty as hell. We listened to the track, dapped each other up and the man was gone. Bronson was in the studio for a total of maybe 20 minutes. For what might be considered one of his most important cameos to date, he handled it like a pro and was in and out like the Delta Force.

The beat was produced by Lil Fame, myself & Noah Rubin. It was one of the beats where the core was made during the marathon Revelations recording sessions and then later the synths and sound effects were added on top. The sequencing of the track was constructed almost by accident. Termanology had emailed his verse and Arnold the engineer flew the file in right after Bronson’s verse and hit play, asking us where we wanted the verse to go. Lil Fame’s eyes and mine lit up because the song sounded perfect with the verses right after each other. We quickly re-sequenced the beat accordingly, moving the more melodic pieces towards the end, keeping the beat as raw as possible. To me the song sounds like a classic freestyle cypher from a Tony Touch mixtape; all it needs is the cassette tape “hiss” from rewinding it so much. For all the attention the track got because Ghost & Bronson were on it together, people forget Termanolgy’s show stealing, Big Pun inspired verse. At the end of the day I think you walk away from the track seeing a distinct difference of styles between 3 very talented rappers.