Observation: Rapper Action Bronson regularly uses references to sports in his lyrics.
Question: Does Action Bronson like sports?
Hypothesis: Action Bronson likes sports.
Experiment: Listen to four mixtapes, three albums, and two EPs to see how many different athletes he mentions to determine if Action Bronson likes sports.
Conclusion: He likes sports.
Report Your Results: One hundred and twenty-three. From Bon Appetit ….. Bitch (2011) to Mr. Wonderful (2015), Bronsoliño managed to rattle off 123 references to sports figures. That comes out to 123 references over 133 songs (not counting intros, interludes, and songs that appear on multiple tapes), which means an average of .92 references per song. That’s almost one per song. Not bad. For comparison, in their 2016 NFL season the Los Angeles Rams scored an average of 1.4 touchdowns per game. That’s almost one, too, and that’s an actual sporting event. If someone put a gun to your head and said you can either listen to a random Action Bronson song to hear a sports reference or watch a Rams game to see a touchdown, you are barely better off picking the Rams. And even then you have to watch a Rams game.
Only counting unique players (NY favorites like Jeter make more than one appearance), Bronson lists off 107 athletes participating in a range of competitions from basketball to bodybuilding. He weaves in references to all-stars like Aaron Rodgers beside journeymen like Serge Ibaka, never repeating an athlete more than three times.
By my (very good) calculations Michael Jordan has been mentioned in rap songs around 6 billion times. Bronson references him once. Comparatively, five-time World’s Strongest Man winner Mariusz Pudzianowski has never been mentioned in any form of art ever; Action referenced him twice. Is Pudzianowski two times the baller that Jordan was? No. Not even close. But that’s not the point.
Read more on Noisey
The Complete Guide to Action Bronson’s Lyrics About Athletes
