A Quick Hit: Cocodrillo Turbo

Action Bronson

By Nick M. W.

Cocodrillo Turbo is...interesting. It’s Action Bronson’s latest project, so it’s going to have a flavor unique to Mr. Baklava’s—excuse me, Dr. Baklava’s—style. If you’ve been following dude’s career at all, then you already know what you’re in for. First, there’s this (age-restricted) companion “film” to the album.

Weird, right?

Then there’s the actual album, which opens with the psycho fever-dream “Hound Dog”, where lyrics are spit backwards and the instrumentation claws and scratches its way to a crocodile growling climax. It moves from that opener through the other tracks, like a fuzzed-out hallucination before it ends with the laid back “Storm Of The Century”, which casually ends up being one of the best tracks on the album.

You know, “interesting” is too vague a word and doesn’t exactly convey the experience of listening to Cocodrillo Turbo. This album is probably best described as a brisk, half-hour acid trip with frequent audio cuts of crocodiles aggressively talking shit in jungle jargon and someone saying “turbo”, like they were on a hot mic over the Walmart Superstore speakers.

I liked it, but I skipped a couple of tracks after the first couple of run-throughs because they sounded like Action Bronson filler, a specific type of track that some might consider worse than anyone else’s type of filler track.

How?

It’s because his gibberish wears down generic beats. He needs the experimental sounding shit that Alchemist concocts. It’s on this type of beat that AB shines. Every once in a while, he’ll take a more conventional approach to his lyrical composition and beat selection, and he’ll make a more digestible (or tolerable depending on your perspective) track, like that snoozer he made with Chance the Rapper, “Baby Blue”. Side note: Sincerely, Mr. Wonderful is my favorite AB album.

Cocodrillo Turbo might be his third or fourth best, and it’s because it lacks bite.

Favorite Track

I know I gave “Storm Of The Century” high praise, and it was earned. That track is dope, as are “Zambezi” and “Ninety One”, but the one track that had me pressing rewind the most was:

“Subzero”   

Alchemist took an even more minimalist approach to his typically minimal production style. I’m talking a couple of fiery keys on the organ, a few bass licks that drive the fire, a bass drop for the culture, snare pops to provoke a release and a ride cymbal to drizzle across her chest.

AB is spitting some wacky shit on “Subzero”, which is all he’s ever really done, and I’m good with it. It’s fun, and it’s what makes Action Bronson stand out in the current state of rap, but at this point I don’t even bother paying attention to what he’s saying. It’s not relevant on this specific track anyway. The beat is so good, and AB’s slightly manic, relentless delivery matches the movement every BPM of the way.

The video is on some other shit.