S. Samuel
After recently getting Grammy-winning producer Jerry Wonda's take on Bad Boy rapper French Montana's seemingly overnight rise to fame, SOHH hit up producer Dame Grease to get his take on the rap rookie's career thus far.
Despite a deal at rap mogul Diddy’s Bad Boy Records and getting ample radio play, Grease said Montana is showing no signs of slowing down.
“Nah, I’m not surprised at all [by his recent success]. When you work for it, and you grind, you know what you’re getting. There’s still a long way to go, let’s not get it twisted, but when you work and you grind, it’s a long way to go,” Grease told SOHH referring to Montana’s hustle. “Look at me and DMX. We’ve been in the trenches and the basement doing music, we’ve been on DJ Clue‘s mixtapes doing music, he got signed to Def Jam and been on the f*cking American Music Awards. It’s about those levels and you’ve got to keep going and going.” (SOHH)
Recently, Jerry Wonda told SOHH Montana has steadily worked at becoming a hip-hop heavyweight.
“Man, you know what, I’ve worked with a lot artists in my day, going back to 1996. I’ve been really getting in and working with a lot of different artists. That dude is so hungry, man, he cut up about seven songs in one day,” Wonda told SOHH referring to French Montana. “Actually, it was one afternoon, not even one day. Cats show up at night, like around nine o’clock and stay until five o’clock in the morning. He got seven songs done, man. Seven songs. He’s no joke. People think he blew up overnight but at the end of the day, he’s put in a lot of overtime. [laughs] He’s put everything into it, man.” (SOHH)
Earlier this year, Montana delved into bringing New York hip-hop back to hip-hop’s forefront.
“It’s been so long for a New York artist to really [have an impact] that it seems like there’s been a dark cloud over New York and the East Coast,” Montana said in an interview. “It’s a blessing that me and other East Coast artists are finally getting our shine again. Artists like Meek Mill (who is from Philadelphia), myself…everybody. We just need more support, that’s all. A song like ‘Shot Caller’ is East Coast…it even has the Lords of the Underground sample from “Funky Child.” But it’s important that we make sure we also make music for everybody else like I did with “Choppa Choppa Down.” (VIBE)
In December, Frenchie announced his new alignment with Bad Boy.
“I really feel real good that’s why I kept it here in New York,” French explained. “Why would I take my talent to South Beach? When I met with Puff and sat down and really spoke, he told me a couple of things and [he] never lied to me about nothing and always kept his word. It is what it is. It’s New York. I want to bring it back to New York.” (“106 & Park”)
Check out a recent French Montana interview below:
