Photography by Loni Schick
RESPECT.‘s Peter Marrack recently caught up with French Montana during his stay in Toronto. French addresses Coke Boys branding, drug accusations, and one very special birthday cake.
Read the complete review & interview after the jump.
My ex Tamara and I were rolling through Yorkville in my dad’s Escalade when I came to the conclusion that some questions are better left unanswered, especially the question of Moroccan-born, Bronx-bred rapper French Montana. Montana is the popular dude behind a string of successful mixtapes, entitled Mac & Cheese 2, Coke Boys, Mr. 16: Casino Life, Coke Boys 2, Coke Boys Run NY, and Lock Out, on which he collaborated with Brick Squad phenom Waka Flocka Flame. Frenchy, as his fans call him, is somewhat of an enigma, in that his music and live performances arouse heated questions within the tight-knit hip-hop community, such as 1) Will Frenchy sign to Bad Boy, Maybach, or GOOD Music, or will he sign at all? 2) When will the ears of a Coke Boys’ concert-goer recover from French’s hard-hitting bass and thundering ad-libs? 3) How does French Montana make so much money, being a newcomer in the game? These are all questions I set out to answer during French’s brief stint on the Canadian concert tour, performing for the Toronto crowd this past weekend at the Kool Haus.
As of late, rumors have circulated that French Montana will sign to the GOOD Music imprint of Def Jam Recordings, while other sources speculate that the Mott Haven-native is more likely to sign with Maybach Music Group or Diddy’s Bad Boy. No matter where Frenchy ends up, one thing’s for damn certain. He’ll go where the money is. “I need more money,” demanded Frenchy over the phone, gazing out at the Toronto harbor from his room at the Westin Harbour Castle. It was Saturday evening, 24 hours after Frenchy’s sold out performance at the Kool Haus, and French was busy dismissing rumors that his performance had sparked two drive-by shootings which occurred after his show. “I don’t understand how that has anything to do with French Montana,” Frenchy complained, addressing a room full of his supporters, LoLa of iLuvLola, a dude named Fresh, the Spiff TV guy on Maybach’s payroll, and of course, yours truly. “Maybe you got them so revved up they went out and shot up the block,” joked Fresh, but French was already back on the phone (locking in a feature for fifteen grand) and couldn’t respond properly. “Naw,” was all he said. Now, all this may sound fine and dandy for a so-called ‘Coke Boy’ from the Bronx, however, if you paid close enough attention to my paragraph you would have noticed the bit about a media guru on Maybach’s payroll. Hell, I assume Rozay’s bankrolling the dude, as he adorned a Maybach Music chain up on-stage the night before… Regardless, what’s Ricky doing sending a photographer out to shoot Frenchy if he isn’t about to ink a deal with him? Logic tells us something’s probably in the works there.
Moving on to the show, LoLa of iLuvLola has to put on the most commendable, if not best, hip-hop events in all of Toronto, and French Montana was no exception. First of all, rumor has it that LoLa is hooked up with the same high-powered Canadian attorney who coerced customs officials to let Lil Wayne into the country (for three hours) to perform at Drake’s OVO Fest. She negotiated a similar deal with Frenchy, making up for the Waka fiasco a couple of weeks prior. LoLa also managed to convince Kool Haus security to look the other way when it came to blatant smoking violations, as concert-goers toked freely for the entirety of the performance, even during the opening acts when the floor wasn’t so packed. Hell, I’ve never witnessed so much weed being smoked in public as I have in Toronto over the past couple months. The city is beginning to act like a mini Amsterdam, spurning French Montana to remark, “I may even buy a house here”. The only downfall of the show had to have been the extreme sound levels they had the speakers jacked up to. My right ear is still ringing from Frenchy’s coke-slanging anthem, “Move That Cane” featuring Waka Flocka, 48 hours later. It didn’t help that the Coke Boys’ DJ insisted on treating the show like an extension of Frenchy’s mixtapes, unleashing violent gunshots and Coke Boys ad-libs every couple of seconds, to the utmost discomfort of my Vestibular nerve. In terms of the set, French ran through some of his more recognizable mixtape records, including “New York Minute”, as he swaggered around stage between an usually-cumbersome pack of supporters, including fellow Coke Boys, dressed in various leathers, designer belts, and sparkling diamonds, and a few too many caramel honeys done up like Drake’s pros from Club Paradise. The only odd moment was when French brought out Canadian artist Belly, who’s managed by LoLa [correction: LoLa does Belly's online marketing], to perform the record, “Num8ers”, off his new mixtape, The Greatest Dream I Never Had. The feature appeared more like a business transaction, arranged by LoLa, than a gesture of mutual respect by French. But hell, who’s to blame a gal for taking care of business, right?
The only further (relevant) question pertaining to French, that I was able to squeeze in as we convened in his hotel room overlooking Toronto Harbour, Lake Ontario, and beyond that, Niagara Falls and Lewiston, had to do with his jewelry, the Mr. 16 pendant, his diamond studded ring, and a blinged-out bracelet. “I like your jewelry,” I said, seated across from French in a chair by the window. “Is that all from rap money?” “50/50,” he responded. “What’s the other 50?” “Construction,” said French, which drew a smirk from his fellow Coke Boys lounging around the beds. “Hmm,” I thought. “So the Coke Boys thing is not really a show, or a performance huh?” French looked at me sideways. “Are you asking whether I sell drugs?” I grinned, and said, “Well, not necessarily now, but in the past.” French made no comment. “Okay,” I regrouped, “Well, then can you tell us when you started in construction?” Another chuckle came from French’s camp around the room. “I can’t tell you about that either,” smirked French. “Maybe one day when I’m in a better mood I’ll tell you.” [read the complete interview below]
And that’s the exact story, word for word, I recounted to my ex, hours later, as we toured the ave’s of Yorkville in my dad’s Escalade, pumping A$AP Rocky’s new mixtape, Live. Love. A$AP. “I can’t believe I came out empty-handed,” I kept complaining to her, tugging at the wheel, when Tamara cut me off and said, “Wait a minute, maybe the questions are more interesting than the answers, right?” After all, French Montana is foremost a businessman, and it’s in a businessman’s best interests to stay elusive, even if that means putting on a ski mask and rocking out to “Chopper Down”, as Frenchy did in Toronto. I contemplated this idea some more, watching Tamara skim through the queue at Club V. Then I revved the engine and swept the Caddy back onto Avenue Rd., accelerating off into the night.
It was your birthday the other day, right?
Yeah, on the 9th.
Happy belated, man.
Thank you. Thank you, bro.
What did you guys do?
We had a stripclub party.
In New York?
Yeah, everybody came out for me.
Who was there?
Lloyd Banks, Flocka, Uncle Murda, I think Amber Rose. Mad people came out. Shout out to the whole city, DJ Clue. Everybody came out.
Did you receive any incredible gifts? Do you have anything left to wish for, at this point?
I mean, I got gifts, but the best gift I got was my birthday cake. It was nice. It was with the Pillsbury Doughboy on it. It was fly.
What kind of cake was it?
It was regular cake, but just the whole theory-
What is that? You guys keep talking about the theories.
Yeah, yeah, that’s Spiff’s dictionary.
Is that going to show up on the mixtapes?
Yeah, it’s already on the mixtapes.
Which one?
[speaking to Spiff of Spiff TV] He’s asking you about the theories.
Spiff: He wants to know about the theories?
Yeah.
Spiff: He can’t know about the theories yet. [laughs]
[laughs]
I listened to Coke Boys 2 again the other day. Did you record that while you were smoking? I have my own theory [laughs]-
[laughs]
If the artist records something high, I think it’d probably sound better high.
I was definitely high and drunk.
So I guess that’s why it sounds so good.
It sounds a lot better that way.
Yeah, “Yah Mean” is fucking incredible.
Crazy, right?
Yeah.
Thank you, bro.
Coke Boys 2 sounds almost like a movie, in the same way Reasonable Doubt sounds like a movie. You said Smack, the film, inspired you.
For the DVD, for the Cocaine City DVD. It was kind of doing the same thing.
Are you inspired by movies a lot?
Movies, yeah, all I do is watch movies. I love watching movies.
What have you watched lately?
Lately I’ve been watching Scarface. Scarface is funny to me. It’s action but it’s funny. It’s the accent and everything, the way he runs things, it’s funny to me.
Any recent movies?
I want to go see that new one, The Immortals, it dropped today. It looks cool.
The Immortals, yeah, my buddy wants to see that.
He said it’s good?
He doesn’t know, but he said it’s supposed to be sick.
Yeah, so I’m going to go see that tonight, but I love movies. I think movies can brighten up your mind about a lot of things.
Speaking of movies, I wondered how big of a role performance plays in your music. Obviously you’re going to assume the persona on-stage, but how much of it is you?
I feel like when you make music it’s like a movie, because you picture it. When you write something, you thinking about it being done. It’s like you’re doing it, like an action thing. Like yesterday when I performed “Chopper Down” with the ski mask on- were you there?
Yeah, I was there. My ears are still ringing.
Yeah, when I put the ski mask on and came out. That’s like a movie scene, bringing it closer to the song.
Was there a moment when you were coming up, when you thought, “Okay, I need to brand myself like this,” you know, create something out of yourself?
Yeah, that’s all I think about every day, how to brand myself.
Any more you can elaborate on that?
I mean, it’s branding, brand myself as like- I try to brand myself as far as making the same street music, but being separate. I don’t know if that makes sense. Like when they hear that sound they know it’s the Coke Boys. Like the beat could just drop, and they know it’s some Coke Boys shit.
Distancing yourself from the Lex Luger thing, kind of like that, but on your own.
Yeah, on my own, like see how Coke Boys 2, if you hear something off that, I want them to be like, “Damn, that’s Coke Boys 2”. It’s branding yourself. A beat could drop right now, and you could tell it’s a Dr. Dre beat, cause you brand yourself.
What producers are you working with to accomplish this? You work with Harry Fraud a lot, right?
Harry Fraud, yeah. He’s my brother. He’s my main producer.
How did you meet him?
I met him way back, a couple years ago. I met him through a mutual friend. I’ve just been building with him. I heard something in his music, so I said we’re going to make it happen.
And speaking of branding yourself, do you ever worry about losing touch with the kid who grew up in New York? I look at someone like Rick Ross and I think, who really is Rick Ross? Does anyone know?
[Spiff chimes in] We know who he is. We know who he is.
Yeah, yeah.
Spiff: His boys in his crew who’ve been with him know who he is.
That’s what is is, yeah, yeah. As long as you keep your immediate family with you, you going to keep making the same music. I don’t feel like Rick Ross’s music changed. I feel like it’s the same music. He just grew. He grew as an artist. But after a while the immediate people who grew up on your block not going to like you anyway. At the end of the day, you can’t go by their opinion. That happens with everything. You make it big in anything and there’s always going to be some dick riders, there’s going to be niggas who hate you, there’s going to be family, good people around you, that’s how it is, how the game goes. I don’t give a fuck if you play rugby.
I like all your jewelry.
Oh yeah, thank you.
And the chain you were wearing.
Oh, the Mr. 16?
Yeah, what is that?
It’s the Joe Montana jersey.
Ok. Ok. Ok.
Flocka gave me that idea.
And this is all from music money, the jewelry?
Huh?
All music money.
Half and half.
What’s the other half?
Construction.
Yeah, because I wondered-
[laughs]
Is Coke Boys part of the brand, or is there truth to that?
Are you asking do I sell drugs?
No, not anymore. But I don’t know. No disrespect.
Naw, man, we do music, sixteen songs, we do shows.
What about in the past?
No, I don’t know nothing about that. I just do music.
Okay, let me talk about the construction then.
Yeah.
Was that before your music?
Naw, I don’t know nothing about that. I just do music, my brother.
What about Waka?
Yeah, Waka’s my brother.
You ever party with those guys?
He’s the one who took me to the airport to come here. He’s my brother, man, we’re on the same label. We’re under the same management.
What about Gucci?
I don’t know. I can’t tell you if somebody’s crazy.
What can you tell me?
[laughs] You’re asking the wrong questions. You want me to talk about selling drugs, you want me to tell you Waka’s crazy. That’s negative shit. I don’t need any of that in my life. [laughs] I want you to talk about something positive, like we the hottest niggas in the streets, we about to get these M’s, you know, theories.
What Toronto artists do you like?
Um, Drake, Belly.
How long have you known Belly for?
Oh, for a little minute. I’ve known Belly for a while. I’ve seen him grinding. I’ve seen his work ethic.
You listen to the new project, The Greatest Dream I Never Had?
Yeah.
What stuck out that was different about that?
I like the first song on it, that “I’m Falling”.
I like the beats.
I like the production. Yeah, I like the production.
