Ironically, in the reviews following Jungle Rules' release, Montana was somewhat discounted, labeled a 'hanger-on' and outshone by his superstar recruits. Jungle Rules is certainly bumpable, the songs that really pop are Montana's alone - which is perhaps why he considers the LP his greatest musical output. Jungle Rules, although Jay-Z called late last night to tell him his favorite track from the record only featured Montana ('Famous'). Pharrell, Quavo, Travis Scott and Future all appear on the rapper's sophomore album, Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Montana reveals, is like a big brother to him. He counts Canadian superstars Drake and The Weeknd among his closest friends. Like super-producer DJ Khaled, the what you might call the 'French effect' has seen Montana collaborate repeatedly with the biggest names in the business. It's Montana's gratitude, coupled with his talent, which has clearly endeared him to his peers. Instead, the star approaches his position with a childlike wonder-not naivete, just a deep-seated appreciation for even the simplest of pleasures, like Dolly Parton. Most artists who have spent as long playing the game are by now deeply jaded, if not exhausted, but French Montana is neither.

'French Vanilla' is the new flavor of CГЋROC Vodka, named after the rapper. He has also produced and starred in a feature film, a far cry from his underground Cocaine City DVDs that kicked off his rap career. Montana has also announced an upcoming full-length project with fellow New Yorker A$AP Rocky ('It's done,' he says). If his momentum continues, Jungle Rules will be the second of many, many studio albums. For almost a decade prior, the rapper was dropping mixtape after mixtape (his first, French Revolution Vol 1, came out in 2007). Jungle Rules is only Montana's sophomore record, a follow-up to his 2013 debut Excuse My French. Instead, French Montana has been steadily carving out his place in the industry for the better part of 20 years. Montana didn't land one big track and blow up to the point of over-saturation overnight as many of his hip-hop contemporaries have done recently. This self-sufficiency is no doubt something that greatly aided Morrocan-born, Bronx-raised Karim Kharbouc's evolution into French Montana, one of the most popular artists in hip-hop (he currently has eight songsД¬harting on the Billboard Hot 100). He could have taken me at my word, but French Montana needed to figure it out for himself. Montana lowers his phone, Shazam has done its job and declared the track to indeed be 'Jolene,' by Dolly Parton. 'It's 'Jolene,' by Dolly Parton,' I feel it my duty to offer, corroborated by Dolly Parton's climatic warbling of the song's title. As the country classic comes on in the Roxy Hotel's restaurant in downtown New York, French lifts up his phone and opens Shazam. Specifically, he enjoys 'Jolene,' Parton's plea for the perfect woman to leave her man alone. White to French Montana's homeland, Morocco, to shoot the rapper against the backdrop of the iconic blue city of Chefchaouen for his August 2017 digital cover story.ДЇrench Montana loves Dolly Parton.

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