French Montana
Excuse My French

Excuse My French... with a play on words based on his name, French Montana titles his Major debut (specifically with P.Diddy's Bad Boy, while distribution is handled by Interscope).                                  

French released his first album (but not his first work, as other projects were released as independent works) at 28 years old, during what is generally considered the peak maturity period for a rapper (giants like Jay-Z, Nas, Notorious B.I.G., and Tupac are exceptions), both technically and lyrically. Therefore, one can expect much from a rapper who should be relatively mature and who could benefit from Bad Boy's virtually limitless budget. Are these expectations well-founded?

The album, I'll say it right away, fits well into that ever-expanding hip hop trend of having total self-celebration as its sole subject, accompanied by thumping beats that are essentially all alike and by an impressive number of guest appearances. Essentially, it's akin to the works of Tyga or Wiz Khalifa. Montana could only continue this task effectively, trying to make it stand out among all the albums belonging to this genre. Unfortunately, he only succeeded halfway. The rapper is essentially anonymous throughout the album, standing out only in the first track, "Once In a While," made in collaboration with Max B, who recorded his opening speech in prison, and in two other songs: "Pop That (Feat. Rick Ross, Drake & Lil Wayne" and "Freaks (with Nicki Minaj)" which are the album's first two singles. In the other tracks, he remains pretty much anonymous, without reaching high or low peaks. Neither shameful nor praiseworthy.

The level is raised by the featuring artists. The album features various high-profile figures like Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne. Drake, The Weeknd alongside veterans like Birdman, Scarface, Rakewon, and the great boss Diddy (author of a verse in "Ballin" that far exceeds those we're accustomed to). These include hook singers like Ne-Yo and Jeremih. All the guests deliver good performances and often overshadow the host, French Montana (even overshadowed by the mediocre Ace Hood in "Fuck what Happens Tonight"). Noteworthy is The Weeknd's performance in "Gifted," where the artist manages to weave appreciable melodies.

The beats are of inconsistent quality. They range from extremely unoriginal beats ("Trap House" and "Ain't Worried About Nothin'") to beats with great impact ("Fuck What Happens Tonight" and "Freaks"). This inconsistency is due to a strong alternation of established and talented producers like Cardiak, Rico Love, or The Beat Bully and others much less talented like Jhalil Beats or J.Oliver.

Among all the tracks, I feel compelled to highlight "Freaks" with Nicki Minaj, a pleasant track where Montana's and Young Money's first lady's performances are on good levels, accompanied by a great base by Rico Love (probably the best on the album) and "Fuck What Happens Tonight" produced by The Beat Bully which provides a good base on which the various guests (Mavado, Ace Hood, Snoop Dogg, and Scarface) express themselves well, unlike Montana.

Ultimately, the album doesn't stand out and settles on a decent level thanks to the beats and guests. A good foundation for Montana, who shows through his choices of Featuring and producers (a bit less) that he knows how to exploit the Bad Boy budget, but who must first and foremost better exploit his own talent which distinctly emerges only on rare and isolated occasions.