Karim Kharbouch was born and raised in Morocco. Like many people in the 80s, Kharbouch was an avid fan of soccer and rap. However, his world changed when his family moved to the South Bronx when was 13. Only speaking a regional dialect of Arabic as well as French, Kharbouch had to learn English from the world around him.
You know Kharbouch as French Montana, the two-time platinum rapper who broke onto the scene in the early 2000s and became a staple of rap in the 2010s. His journey from Casablanca to the Bronx to music stardom will soon be the focus of a new documentary.
French Montana Reveals More About Biography Documentary
Celebrating Arab Heritage Month on The Message Podcast, Montana opened up about what viewers can expect from his upcoming documentary.
"This documentary just tells my immigrant story basically, and all the people that followed me from the day that I started till now. I feel like a lot of people know me, but a lot of people just know me by the music. A lot of people know me from me dating people. It could be this, it could be that, but I want people to know me for the right reasons and I feel like this documentary just is more based on the struggle. We was on welfare, to me getting shot, to me meeting Chinx, me meeting Max B. Max B be getting 75 years in jail. It’s the whole thing. It’s the whole enchilada. Me being almost blackballed after he went to jail. Me just going through all the obstacles.”
French Montana, The Message Podcast April 21 2023
From what Montana said, it appears as though the documentary will not attempt to hide or sugarcoat details of his life. It will be an open and honest look at the path he took and the highs and lows he encountered. “I watch a lot of documentaries and I see a lot of people — this is not no shots at nobody — I see a lot of people just highlight the trophies and highlight the accomplishments and highlight why they got jerked by the Grammys and highlight this and highlight that and I really want to know the actual artists, you know what I’m saying,” he went on to say.
However, Montana also took time to acknowledge Drake, who served as an executive producer on the documentary. He also shouted out various figures like Max B. as well as his mother.
“Shout out to Drake for helping me do it. Shout out to Puff. Shout out to Max B for letting them cameras come inside that maximum security prison and helping me document it. Shout out to my mother. She never been on nothing. That was her first one and it just shows that me, her and my father came here not even speaking English and it shows that your temporary moment doesn’t have nothing to do with your long-term.” However, the documentary does not yet have a release date or a distributor. Despite this, it is reportedly to be ready to go.
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