French Montana "MONTANA" Album Review

French Montana

“MONTANA”

Album Review

By Bonds

@ondbond007

It appeared French Montana would be celebrating the release of his album from his hospital bed after being admitted into the ICU a week before with intense stomach pain and nausea, but in climatic fashion, the Mocroccan Wave God was released the same day his third studio album MONTANA was set to drop. 
French Montana is no stranger to the intensive care unit as he’s been hospitalized before with a gunshot to the head leaving a recording studio back in 2003, so hearing he was back in the ICU definitely raised a concern throughout the hip-hop community. Luckily, this time wasn’t as serious, as it turns out the turn up can in fact be real.

It’s time to start giving French the respect he deserves in the game and MONTANA proves just that, a 20 track, two sided flex, that’s heavily star studded with features full of Billboard potential. To have that many features to some may be considered a downfall, but to have enough creative vision to collaborate with the biggest names in the industry and finance it all; well, lets just say there’s a reason why your favorite artists probably has done a record with French. His consistency to his grind is the embodiment of his career, creating an impressive resume tallying up 3 albums, 23 mixtapes, and 187 guest appearances reaching as far back as 2007, maintaining perfect attendance in each year. Blended with business savvy dealings and sharp astuteness to the game, it’s easy to see why French Montana is at the pinnacle of his success and one of the top entrepreneurs.

You see, the road to MONTANA didn’t start overnight or with his first radio single “Pop That”. No, it’s much more of a rags to riches story. He’s the perfect example of the “American Dream”. Born in Casablanca, Morocco is where French spent the first 13 years, before moving to the South Bronx of New York City, and adopting English as his third language. That’s where French would begin his entrepreneur endeavors creating the popular street DVD series Cocaine City, where he produced 14 volumes featuring interviews with major and upcoming rappers highlighting underground music, high profiled lifestyles, and current rap beefs. That would be the same stage French Montana would showcase his talent as a rap artist and the rest is his-tory.

This album feels like one of his biggest achievements, solidifying his position as a heavy hitter who took the admiring Frank Sinatra,  “My Way”  approach and made his own route. Staying true to his Bronx roots, French hooks up with longtime producer/friend Harry Fraud six times including “Coke Wave Boys” featuring his friends Chinx (who was killed with gunshot wounds to the chest in a car on Queens Boulevard in 2015) and Max B (who was found guilty of murder conspiracy and robbery and sentenced to 75 years in prison in 2009, and since taken a plea bargain for aggravated manslaughter and set to be released sometime in 2021).

Having a two sided album in today's short attention span era almost seems career suicidal, but listening to the album it’s a more subtle approach to introduce two sides. French is known for his ability to collaborate with artists and over saturate listeners with features and MONTANA is no different, having collaborations on seventy-five percent of the album. That’s what makes his solo efforts on this go without saying, a breath of fresh air given the contrasting different elements each one brings to the album. The most notable standout for me is “Salam Alaykum”, a classic Harry Fraud slow tempo sample that will leave you amazed in production quality that captures the ideal tone French loves. I’d like to see him hold his own on more solo records, because when he teams up with producers such as Cool & Dre on records like “What It Look Like” he proves he can carry his own weight. (Solo records; side A: 1, 4, 6, 7, side B: 9).

From examples like; Jay-Z, Drake, Diddy, and Rick Ross, it’s evident in the rap game if you want longevity, you must produce good music and obtain a wealth of good business ethics at the very least, and that’s just what French has. French started off his career part of a group called Coke Boys who were signed to French Montana’s independent label Cocaine City Records (off his DVD hustle) and in 2009 Akon signs French to a shopping deal with Akon’s label Konvict Muzik. 

Wait, it gets better, in 2010 French Montana signs to Mizay Entertainment and managed by Debra Antney (former manager of Gucci Mane, Waka Flocka, and Lex Luger). 

It gets even better, French Montana ends both of those deals and a bidding war to sign him begins between; Roc Nation, G.O.O.D. Music, Bad Boy Records, and Maybach Music Group. In 2011 he initially signed with Diddy’s Bad Boy Records (that leveraged his Cîroc deal) and a few months later he would make the final touches to complete his joint deal with MMG as well.

It’s that type of type of strategic maneuvering within the game that enables French Montana to collab with with the hottest artists and producers like he has on “Writing On The Wall”. feat Post Malone, Cardi B, and Rvssian. This record has Unforgettable potential written all over it.

If you're familiar with French Montana’s catalog he’s good for at least one record on his album that will leave impressionable effects and for me on this album it's “Wanna Be” ft.  PartyNextDoor. At first I let it get lost in rotation, but after listening to it, it's an extremely well written and produced record. It’s a feel good vibe and reminds me of his philanthropy, that much like this song can get lost in rotation. Upon signing his deal with Bad Boy Records, French and Diddy were disgusting when to release French’s very own Cîroc French Vanilla flavor when Diddy “Generously gave French a $1 million dollar bonus that French donated the entire amount to the Entertainers 4 Education Alliance’s I WILL GRADUATE campaign."

More recently French Montana has helped launch a medical center in Uganda after filming his hit single “Unforgettable” ft. Swae Lee and becoming aware of the country's lack of healthcare facilities. He’s raised half a million dollars to build the hospital that serves over 300,000 of the countries citizens and was named the Global Citizens Ambassador.

With all things considered, MONTANA is a carefully constructed album assembled by substantial talent that introduces the past to the future in a bittersweet fashion in such a way similar to the sun meeting the horizon, departing from the day only to return tomorrow to introduce a new journey. My favorite stretch of the album are tracks 6 through 9. Overall I give it a B+, check it out for yourself and let me know how you feel about it, and as always, stay focused & grind hard.