Fighter: French Montana
Trainer (Gym): Diddy, Rick Steel, French Montana (Bad Boy, Coke Boys, Epic )
Cut Men: Mike WILL Made It, Harry Fraud, London on da Track, Scott Storch, Floyd “A1” Bentley, Alex Lustig, Beat Billionaire, Ben Billions, C.P Dubb, Detail, Diego Ave, Jaegen, Nic Nac, Nova, Masar, Murda Beatz, Shaun Lopez, Ziggyonthekeyboard, 1Mind, 2Epik, ISM, Jaegen, Frank Dukes, DtownThaGreat, Count Bassy, Cubeatz, DaHeala, DannyBoyStyles
Weight Class: Hood Star
Notable Fire: Unforgettable Feat. Swae Lee, White Dress, Formula
Notable Trash: Bring Them Things
Tale of the Tape: While not in the tier of albums that will contend for album of the year French Montana’s Jungle Rules is a surprisingly good album.
Conversation surrounding French Montana centers around what he is not. He’s not your favorite rapper. He’s not your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper. He’s not top five dead or alive. He’s not even the hottest in the city right now (somehow, a woman named Cardi B has all the juice in The Big Apple).
That conversation obscures and often times completely misses what French Montana is— a New York City modern-day rapper who sings; with a catalog of close to 20 mixtapes, two studio albums, and a string of hits with an international flair to top it off. Quiet as kept, the Moroccan born emcee gave the streets, “Pop That”, “Stay Schemin”, “Ain’t Worried About Nothin'”, “Lockjaw” and “No Shoppin'”, all before releasing “Unforgettable” as the lead single to Jungle Rules.
“Unforgettable” is Montana’s biggest hit to date and has peaked at #5, helping push Jungle Rules to #3 on the Billboard charts. In an interview with The Breakfast Club, Montana revealed he invested over $600k to buy the song and shoot the video, which has since gone viral (closing in on 250 million YouTube views). The investment paid off ten times over for French, and he’s shared the spoils in the form of a $100k donation to Mama Hope Organization, which supports global entrepreneurship to help end extreme poverty.
French Montana gave back, but also paid homage to his Coke Boys clique members lost on Jungle Rules. The opening track “Whiskey Eyes” features a verse from the late friend, Queens rapper nad Coke Boys member and close friend Chinx, who passed in 2015. In a video for the song, an artist paints a memorial picture over the course of the song. “Whiskey Eyes” sets the stage for French Montana to be more revealing on the album than you might expect if you are unfamiliar with his albums and mixtapes.
On the follow-up single “A Lie”, Montana shared the spotlight with The Weeknd and Coke Boyz member and longtime collaborator Max B, currently incarcerated until 2025 for charges of conspiracy, assault, kidnapping and murder. This is another catchy tune, even if it does seem to stretch the singing capabilities of its lead artist.
While I am ambivalent on it myself, a valid critique of the album would be the high number of features on the tracklist. Aside from the three titles mentioned above, there are nine other features on the LP. Twelve of the eighteen total songs have features, which begs the question, “Can French Montana carry his own album?”
To be fair, aside from the notable trash of “Bring Them Things” featuring Pharrell, the tracks with features are a strength for the project. French Montana mostly pairs up with more popular artists, but shares the scene with lesser known acts as well.
“Bag“, with Lil Uzi Vert Zilco Niico, has a driving beat produced by Ziggy. The dancehall track “Formula” (featuring Alkaline) could be a sneaky choice for a hit song even if the intro should’ve been left on the cutting room floor. “She Workin‘” sees French ride the line between rap and r&b smoothly in true Bad Boy fashion.
Because no rap album would be complete without Quavo and Future, the Atlanta stars make back-to-back appearances on “Migo Montana” and “No Pressure” respectively. Young Thug gets two verses on “Black Out” but the beat by Beat Billionaire is the real feature. “Stop It” contains a “turn back the clock” performance from T.I. that might make you have to “dust off” the King album.
Jungle Rules ends right where it should, with French taking center stage and standing on his own two, showing exactly who and what he is at this point as an artist. “Famous” is an intriguing juxtaposition of Montana as a celebrity afraid of losing his mate to the same celebrity he enjoys. The penultimate “Too Much” is decent, but unremarkable. After a slow start, the album finale “White Dress” goes hard in the paint.
Fight Night: Winner By Split Decision
This is a quick listen at just over an hour for 18 songs. The album starts and ends strong and has only one trash song. While there may be “too many” features, Jungle Rules is entertaining and that is what listeners want from French Montana more than anything else. Come for “Unforgettable”, stay for everything else; you won’t regret it even if you won’t remember it this time next year.