I could be sorely mistaken, but in the annals of rap history I can't recall a single rapper embracing the Champs 1958 classic "Tequila" as a workable beat. But then again, Queens-native Action Bronson isn't concerned with what most rappers are up to. 2012's Blue Chips was an ostentatious offering, testing the outer limits of rap in ways few dare. Entire verses started over whenever Bronson wasn't satiated. Thai-pop and Flamingos samples comfortably rubbed shoulders. "Bronsolino" was as likely to drop a ridiculous JFK comparison, as we he was to name-check also ran MVP Ken Caminiti or baby-faced "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. His voracious appetite for oddball pop-culture references only rivaled by sex and food (in no particular order).
Like any good sequel should, Blue Chips 2 picks up where the original left off. "Pepe Lopez" arrives via the aforementioned instrumental sample. Only a gourmand like Bronson would rename a "Tequila" sampling song "Pepe Lopez" after a prominent tequila brand. It's not straining credulity to picture Bronson salivating as the strutting guitar and hand-clatter kick in. For a bowling-ball of a man, he turns circles around the nimble track; riding an '89 Firebird and rocking "guns like Wyatt Earp". Mark McGwire's '98 home-run campaign is recalled in the midst of a famished Bronson ordering rabbit at a restaurant "like a playmate". "This about to be some s***" he forewarns in the extended outro. "Pepe Lopez" is just the amuse-bouche of the five-course meal that is to follow.
Blue Chips 2 is available for free download here. Expect a review as soon as I can digest the whole thing.
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