Whether you’re listening to his music or watching him stuff his face, push his cholesterol through the roof and talk with pieces of meat between his teeth on TV; when it comes to Action Bronson, you either love him or hate him. Only For Dolphins, like the rest of his discography, alternates between the joyful, couldn’t-care-less attitude and his dense flow, (stolen from Ghostface Killah, let’s admit it). But as usual, the insane production doesn’t let us down. He didn’t team up with record producer pals Party Supplies for this album but considering its line-up, their shoes have very much been filled. This is pure Action Bronson: incredible composers, crazy instrumentalists and a rapper who doesn’t even need all that. On Latin Grammy’s, for example, Tommy Mas samples the superb Latin soul track Idle Hands by Harlem River Drive. Meanwhile, beautiful strings and jazz piano steal the show On Vega, produced by the bonkers DJ Muggs (record producer for Cypress Hill). Budgie Beats revisits the ‘90s reggae track Best Love by the Blackstones and transforms it into the epic Golden Eye, while others like Harry Fraud (C12H16N2) and Samiyam (Splash) produce tracks like La Croisère s’amuse, mixing dolphin noises, crashing waves and kitschy, Californian-style beats. Action Bronson can be annoying, but he always manages to win us over with music that makes us feel good. © Brice Miclet/Qobuz