Southern Plug Magazine: Leaders of the New School ft Remy Ma Volume 2 Issue 1 C | Page 47

A rapper who built an indie empire with his Cocaine City imprint,
French Montana was born Karim Kharbouch in Morocco but
immigrated to the U.S. while in his teens. He set up shop in the
Bronx and began releasing his Cocaine City series of DVDs in 2002,
mixing interviews with established hip-hop artists and unsigned
talent. Around 2009 he began releasing his own mixtape CDs with
DJs like DJ Drama, Evil Empire, and Big Mike as his hosts. That
same year he would be signed to Akon's Konvict Musik label, but
in late 2011 it was announced that they had parted ways and that
French was signing to both P. Diddy's Bad Boy and Rick Ross'
Maybach Music imprints in a unique joint venture. His 2012 single,
"Pop That," would be the first release for the united labels, while
2013 saw the release of his debut album, Excuse My French. A
series of mixtapes, each with an increasing R&B influence,
brought Montana to 2016, when he dropped Casino Life 2: Brown
Bag Legend. The mixtape included the hit single "Moses" featuring
Chris Brown and Migos. A full LP -- MC4 -- was slated for the end
of the year, but after the album was leaked by a retailer months
before its official release, Montana scrapped the rollout entirely
and issued it as a mixtape. MC4 (aka "Mac & Cheese 4") featured
appearances by the Weeknd, Drake, Jeezy, A$AP Rocky, Kodak
Black, Miguel, Nas, Kanye West, DJ Khaled, Beanie Sigel, Jadakiss,
Styles P, the Alchemist, Max B, and Chinx. The following year,
Montana returned with his official sophomore effort, Jungle Rules.
The LP included guests like the Weeknd, Travis Scott, Pharrell
Williams, Quavo, Future, T.I., and Young Thug.