French Montana is getting ready to drop his long-awaited debut album Excuse My French tomorrow. The Moroccan rapper spoke to HNHH's very own Ashlee Ray about staying in the "classic zone" for the record, working with Miley Cyrus, and the approach to his hit single "Freaks".
"So fucking legendary" French replied after being asked to describe his upcoming album in three words. The rapper elaborated a bit on when he fell in love with rap music, and how it influenced his debut album. "Tupac, Big, Jay, Nas, That whole era," he said, adding, "That's when I really fell in love with the music."
Montana listed plenty of albums from that very time as being on his ipod currently. "Life After Death, All Eyez On Me, Doggystyle, Reasonable Doubt, It Was Written." he revealed were all in rotation. "I had to listen to those kind of things to make my album, to stay in the 'classic zone'."
On his hit single, "Freaks", French expressed excitment in making the record, but stressed that making dancehall music was a little more difficult for him than rap. " I grew up on that record, so when we had the chance to do it over, I just felt like there's been a lack of reggae music." he said. "You needed a reggae track for the dancehall people just to cross over. It's almost like a challenge," adding that while rap comes easily to him, "the reggae took a lot out of me."
The "Pop That" rapper also revealed some big plans for a single with Will.i.am and Miley Cyrus. "I went to LA two weeks ago and Will.i.am had this crazy record, when it come out it's gonna be a smash" he said excitedly. "I did a verse on it and Miley Cyrus did a verse on it," continuing to sing praises for the former-Disney star. "I'm a fan of her music and I'm a fan of how she made the transition."
Excuse My French drops May 21st. You can cop it on iTunes here: http://smarturl.it/
Watch our full exclusive interview with French below.