French Montana - Jungle Rules
What I listened with: Wireless Bluetooth Speaker
Editor Rating: 7/10
The Bottom Line: French Montana does a great job using Afro-Beats. A lot of rappers are exploiting African cultures for beats, and melodies. Then ruining the music, so it’s nice to see the music done right.
French Montana has been sort of the DJ Khaled of rapping. But the same way DJ Khaled has broken the mold, and figured out how to make a hit record without Drake or Rick Ross. French Montana has hit a similar stride this year with his single “Unforgettable. For the first time in his career, French has a top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit. There’s no verse from Drake, no grunt from Ross, and no spin-move by Diddy. It’s just Montana, a hip swaying Afrobeats-esque production, and Swae Lee exhibiting a soft yet contagious vocal performance that gives the record its undeniable allure. “Unforgettable” is the “One Dance” of 2017, once again showcasing how the growing popularity of world music and rap are intertwining. As a Moroccan-American, “Unforgettable” is a literal return to roots for French; it's no surprise the single has dominated globally.
Just to be clear, this isn’t to say French Montana couldn’t have had this breakout record earlier. French’s Mac & Cheese mixtapes are collectively a classic mixtape series. At the end of the day he was overshadowed repeatedly being signed to both MMG, and Bad Boy records simultaneously. It ended up being a situation where you simply have to wait your turn, and do dozens of features.
Unfortunately, there are only a handful of solo tracks. Normally features aren’t bad but some of the featured songs on the album it sounds like French is setting up the featured artist to soung good instead of the other way around. For example on the track “A Lie” ft. The Weekend & Max B. French catches a nice flow with some bars that are hard af, but The Weekend comes in, and the record feels like a Pop single. I don’t know if that was the intention, but if I’m listening to a French Montana project I don’t want Pop unless he’s the featured artist.
"Jump" (ft. Travis Scott)
Rappers love to record and smoke. Weed has added so many small details to the beginning of rap songs. “For the wave culture.” I like how odd this beat is, like a loop that stopped a few seconds too short. I'd compare it to seeing a person with one arm shorter than the other. Travis with a rather simple hook, a bit catchy, but I’m not sold just yet. He sounds comfortable here, song is slowly building up. I love the back harmonizes, though! Starting to feel this one a bit more. Realizing how much Travis' vocals add to a song's texture. His voice is apart of the instrumentation. Take him off and it would be rather boring but he adds character. Yeah, French rapping with Trav doing the harmonizes underneath is tough. Gives them this strange synergy. Not sure what the hell French is talking about, I wish he would lose the Auto-Tune, but again, synergy and bounce are what makes this record hotter than a Hot Pocket fresh out the microwave. Travis has a verse. “Jump” actually feels within his lane, like a leftover from Birds gifted to French. Rollerskates on the flow. “White bitches on me like I’m Kobe” shakes head profusely. I like this as a house party record. I would jump off someone's roof into the pool while this played if the right amount of drugs were provided. I like this for what Travis brings to the table, it's practically his record.
"Hotel Bathroom"
Interesting. This sounds like Spanish guitar strings but glitchy like the beat is buffering. That damn Comcast internet. Liking how weird this is getting. French singing about smoking in the bathroom. Of course, this is about sex in the hotel bathroom, hotel couch, and if you’re like me it'll make you text your girl, and tell her you want to have sex with her in the Hotel Bathroom. Also, if the Motel 6 is good enough for French Montana it should be good enough for you.
Have you ever been invited to the club after spending an extended amount of time away? There's an excitement about going out, turning up, and having the time of your life starts to formulate into the perfect fantasy. So you go. But by the time you leave, fun turns to dissatisfaction. Your vision of a night filled with drunk stumbling, tireless dancing and unforgettable memories didn’t come to fruition like you had imagined. It was just another night at the club, at worst, a reminder of why you stopped going. On first listen, French Montana’s Jungle Rules fills me with a similar contrast of emotions―happy that I went out, but also wishing that I stayed in.
Jungle Rules isn’t a club album, but it fits within the spectrum of musical entertainment that’s meant to be fun and blissful. A lot of the songs feel like they could be offered to the summer as anthems to soundtrack youthful thrills and debauchery. French knows how to have a good time, that’s without question, but he still struggles to keep me captivated. I enjoy his ear for production and how he’s able to find suitable guest to fill the party with added flare, but when they leave he struggles to keep the excitement going. This is what makes the singles so enjoyable—they don’t overstay their welcome. I prefer French Montana brief and amusing.
Jungle Rules will likely work best when a handful of songs are isolated on different playlists. He has crafted some solid material—more than a few tracks are worth revisiting—but as a whole, the entire album didn’t give me the sense that I’ve been missing much. Especially due to the album's length, 18 songs is no different than an entire season of Game Of Thrones.
It’s not that French is predictable, it's that he only has a few tricks that are impressive, and a few he shouldn’t do in public. He’s a better craftsman than rapper or singer, a builder of moods even if he isn’t able to always execute them. Every time you go out, the hope is to have a good time. But you only remember the great times. Even though there are pleasant moments, I won’t remember much about Jungle Rules beyond today.
At least for the rest of this summer and future summers to come, we’ll have “Unforgettable.” That’s all I really need.