- It's been barely sixth months since the late blooming gourmet chef-turned-rapper Action Bronson plated up his first official musical offering since signing with the almost annoyingly hip and disgustingly on-point 'alternative' media juggernaut Vice. While Vice has actually remained a relatively informative and interesting source of all things weird, off-beat and challenging, I've always copped a pretty major whiff of pretension emanating deep from its stinking core. With this is mind I was justifiably worried that the ever-so-hip Bronson might lose some of that edge, excitement and goodwill he's done so very well to garner since crashing onto the musical landscape, just a couple of years back.

That last EP Saaab Stories found itself in a weird grey area between being just regular good and really good. In most respects it successfully walked that fine line between commercial viability and outsider freak rap, yet it didn't ever quite hit the dizzying highs attained by Bronson's earlier mix-tape releases.

Continuing his trend of sticking with one producer per project, Bronson has again thrown all his eggs into one basket, hooking up the relatively low-key producer Party Supplies for a follow up to the wonderfully absurd Blue Chips mix-tape the duo unleashed on to the world just over a year ago. Blue Chips 2 needs no hesitation, this is Bronson back in top form, the mix-tape format allowing the New York native to truly shine. He's at his glorious best when he's allowed absolute free-reign, letting his over the top self ooze out and here he's oozing something fierce and deadly. His raps are a stream-of consciousness mess centred around an unhealthy excess of food, women, drugs and sporting entertainment.

It's always a balancing act for a producer to incorporate samples and soundbytes that both work within the confines of the tape, yet are recognisable enough for that creeping sense of nostalgia to kick in, as your brain struggles to place these seemingly random snippets of film dialogue and chopped up pop hooks. Despite his lack of real output, Party Supplies again lives up to his suggestive name. He crams so many smile-inducing moments into the 19 track deep mix that I barley noticed the time as it breezed on by. It's the perfect accompaniment to Bronson's larger than life flow.

Blue Chips 2 excels at pure, unadulterated entertainment. Bronson is a joy to the ears. He's a refreshing and downright fun rapper in a world where the majority take themselves just a bit too seriously for my liking. Action Bronson has that rare mix of skill and personality and never has it been more apparent than here. I'd highly recommend Blue Chips 2 even if it wasn't available as a free download. Take notice, now might be the last time to get on board the wagon before it well and truly leaves the uninitiated eating it's delicious dust.

- Jay Edwards.