Coat and sweater by AMI Paris, IG @amiparis

Talent: French Montana
Photography, Creative Direction, and Production by: Mike Ruiz
Editor-in-Chief: Dimitri Vorontsov
Stylist: Sam Woolf
Barber: Saadi da Barber
Braider: Myss Monique
Groomer: Mattie Marie
Location: Los Angeles, California

Wearing full look by Versace IG @versace
Necklaces his own

Dmitri: How was your photoshoot with Mike Ruiz?

French: Man, I loved it. He worked fast and sharp.

Dmitri: When did you start playing around with the beats?

French: Man, my first experience is just me loving the music, and me just searching for sounds that make me feel a certain way, searching for sounds that bring some sort of energy out of me. I just take that energy and I flip it, make it mine, so whoever hear it that have the same sense of music that I have, I want them to feel the same way that I felt when I first heard it. That’s been my strategy since I started.

Dmitri: Interesting. Do you have a special routine when you write? Do you prefer evenings or do you do write during the day or whenever the inspiration happens?

French: I just prefer to get a rush from the music. It could be in the studio. Sometimes if it’s something that I really want to spazz on, I’ll do it in the house and just take my time with the verses. Sometimes records I could just do right there in the studio and it still– it just depends. It depends what type of music I’m making. The Montega album, with that one, I did that one in the studio, but writing.

Dmitri: I’ve listened to the album, and to be honest, it’s so dope.

French: Thank you.

Coat by Kid Super, IG @kidsuper
Ring by Metal Noir, IG @metalnoir

Dmitri: My favorite track is actually probably the final track, Bronx Mecca, on the album. Absolutely loved it. I had a really good listen a couple of times to the album, and I’m really impressed. Congratulations.

French: Man, thank you. It’s really one of those albums I always wanted to make. It’s full of life and just full of– it’s an album that’s going to be timeless.

Dmitri: It does sound different from your other collaborations, especially– I’m glad to see and hear like a different French on your album rather than just your regular collaborations. Congrats.

French: Thank you.

Dmitri: You did this album as an independent, is that correct?

French: Yes.

Shirt and vest by Fendi, IG @Fendi
Rings by Misho, IG @misho_designs

Dmitri: How does it feel for you to move into an indie space, become an independent artist, and produce and own your own masters, for example? Is it easier these days compared to, let’s say, 10 years ago?

French: I think I come from the mixtape era. I love just dropping whenever I want to drop. I feel like it just works for me. It just so happens to be independent, and just so happened to be at the level where I have the capital for it right now. I enjoy dropping with the label. I enjoy dropping independent. I love just dropping whenever I want. Sometimes it works out for me like that when I want to drop mixtapes and stuff like that, that the label will just be like, “All right, look, we don’t want to drop it this way,” so might as well just drop it as a mixtape. I think the independent route, I’m just so used to it since I started, it works out for me.

Dmitri: When it comes to producing this album, how long did it take you? You produced it with your old friend, Is that correct? You produced it with Harry–

French: Yes, Harry Fraud. Me and Harry Fraud is the best duo when we get together, you know what I’m saying? Like Havoc and Styles P, Snoop and Dre, certain people that just when they connect— it is a special quality of music that come out, and I think me and Harry Fraud nailed it. As you know, we usually work on beats– some of these instrumentals took years to make, some of these samples took years for us to find a– It’s just perfect timing for it, man. I think that everything made sense, and we always wanted to do this album since we started. We’ve been making music for about 10 years or better, me and him, and all we ever did was Appetizer before. Now we did four albums, we finally gave people what they want.

Cardigan and t shirt by Amiri, IG @amiri

Dmitri: How long was it in the making?

French: Yes, some songs were done one verse, some songs would have just a hook on them. Some songs would just have the beat. It took a long time to make.

Dmitri: Do you get inspired when you travel? Do you write when you travel?

French: Yes, I would love to write my experiences down. Every time I see something or hear something that catch my ear, I just write it down. I write it down, I wait for the right song, for the right moment to share it with the world.

Dmitri: You’ve just received Diamond certification from the RIAA, that’s major. How does it make you feel to get such a massive honor?

French: I think that being the first African-born artist to achieve that in 2022 years of life, I think that’s bigger than me just going diamond. I think just knowing where I came from or what I accomplished is a beautiful thing. Being the first male artist from the Bronx to achieve that, it’s just a beautiful thing. I feel like these kinds of things, they make everything worth, the grind and the work, and all these years that you have been working. It’s a moment where you just sit down and be happy for all the grind you put in. I think that’s more of the success story for me when you be like, “Okay, I didn’t put these 15 years or just every night studio, this, and that for nothing, I’m finally seeing results.”

Robe, pants and turtle neck by Tom Ford, IG @tomford
Shoes by Manolo Blahnik, IG @manoloblahnik
Rings by David Yurman and Metal Noir, IG @davidyurman, @metalnoir

Dmitri: Absolutely. If someone told you when you’re 10 years old that you will get that to that level, do you think your 10-year-old would believe in that as a kid?

French: When I was 10 years old, 13 years old in Africa, I think that being a rapper or being at this level of my career, that didn’t even exist. If I did believe in it, and told somebody, they would have thought I was crazy because I was in a whole different continent where nobody– Just waking up in Africa, tell somebody you’re going to be a big rap star in America, it’s just something that seems so far-fetched that it almost seems impossible, but when you put God first, when you put Allah first and you just do your thing, I feel like nothing is impossible.
Yes, man, that’s the way to say it. 10 years old, 13 years old, no, I couldn’t even dream it. I don’t even think I could’ve imagined it. I didn’t know nobody that I knew that accomplished it. I only seen people on TV and I didn’t even understand what they said on TV because I ain’t speak English. The language I spoke, nobody accomplished nothing as far as music go. There were just big artists. Yes, I’m happy about it.

Dmitri: You do so many collabs, man. You’re really good at it and your sound can vary depends who you’re collaborating with as well. The personal favourite ones: No Stylist with Drake and, All the Way Up. How do you choose your collaborations?

French: Actually, just my friends. Fat Joe been a big part of my career, actually when I was first coming out and Shot Caller was blowing up. When Shot Caller was blowing up, I felt like Fat Joe made with DJ Funkmaster Flex play my record, he’d been a big part of my career in the beginning.
When he came up with All the Way Up, I felt like that was Allah working again, just putting us together, and to finally have a moment. As far as Drake, he also been part of my career since I started. We went on my first tour together, Club Paradise tour, the Stay Schemin’. It’s only we got better with time, and No Stylist came right after Unforgettable, and we hit the charts to get again running.

Dmitri: What sort of influence did you have when you were growing up?

French: I still listen to Tupac, Biggie, Jay-Z, I listen to a lot of old-school music. Bobby Blues. The Marvins, Nina Simone. I just listen to a lot of old-school music because I’m also thinking about, how can I reinvent the sound that I grew up on?

Wearing full look by Saint Laurent, IG @saintlaurent
Necklace by Jacob & Co, IG @jacobandco
Belt chain by Gypsy Sport, IG @gypsysport

Dmitri: Do you remember the first time you heard yourself playing in a club somewhere?

French: Yes, the first I heard myself was DJ Green Lantern in New York, and as a matter of fact, I think it was DJ Kay Slay, rest in peace, Drama King, and he was just playing Straight Cash, the song that I had called Straight Cash. It was my first record that sounded like a single. I think that’s when I first heard myself.

Dmitri: What message do you want to give to your fans especially because you have your fans on multiple continents or is there a message that you want to get across through your music?

French: Man, the messages that I will give a fan or a kid somewhere that’s watching social media or watching TV and only see people highlights and see people only praise, whatever is good happening for them, I want the young fans to know that if you’re striving to be something bigger than what you dreamed about, you have to understand that you’re going to lose more than you’re going to win. You’re going to struggle more than you’re going to be successful, and it’s going to seem impossible at times.
When you’re sitting there, seeking to what’s seeking you, you know what I’m saying, you’re just got to remember that. You’ve got to keep pushing. You’ve got to have hope and have faith. Faith is bigger than success because, without faith, there is no success.

Dmitri: Absolutely.

French: The person that you’re looking for to help you is the most important thing. The person you’re looking for to help you is not nobody around you. It’s you.

Dmitri: What else do you want to accomplish when it comes to your career?

French: Yes. We started with Cocaine City DVDs, so that was like– we used film to get into the music. We would always end up with our first love, which is film. I think I love both of them the same; film and music. I don’t think that film is a foreign thing. I think it’s right around the corner for me to start doing.

Dmitri: Yes, absolutely. You don’t need to give up music, but it’s always good to keep your horizons open as well. Why not? You might wake up one day and go, “I want to act as well, so why not?”

French: Yes. My thing has always been, people would hear you 1,000 times on the radio or walk right by you in the streets, people would see you one time on TV and remember you for the rest of their life. I always felt like film was always more powerful than music. That’s definitely been my first and second love.

Hoodie by Avril 8790, IG @avril8790

Dmitri: Do you have any hobbies or anything that you like doing outside music? How do you relax?

French: I love going to the beach now to learn how to surf, doing little things like that. I think that the most important thing is what I did was music was what I used to get away from everything. That was where I went. That was my hobby to have fun. That’s why a kid can come from Morocco when he’s 13 years old not knowing English and just being able to learn English, and pick the hardest job for a non-English speaking and become a rapper and be successful, I think, because what I did to get away from music was music. That became my hobby. That became everything.

Dmitri: Absolutely.

French: It just narrowed down everything.

Dmitri: If you would have a chance to give your younger self advice, what advice would you give?

French: Man, if I could give my younger self advice, don’t stress nothing. Don’t try to move too fast, and leave everything in God’s hand. Just have faith. I think there’s nothing I would change. There’s nothing that I would give myself advice for. Everything worked out for me the way I wanted to, but I think it was just more of stressing about what’s not going to happen that ended up happening, was the advice that I couldn’t give myself back then because even now I still go through the same thing. I know things is going to happen, but just not having patience. Just having more patience and having more faith.