French Montana Biography
Rapper Karim Kharbouch, best known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American. Karim Kharbouch was born on November 9, 1984. He was born and reared in Morocco before moving to the US when he was 13 years old. He is the creator of Coke Boys Records and Cocaine City Records, which it replaced. After releasing independent music for years, he inked a combined recording contract with Rick Ross’s Maybach Music Group and Puff Daddy’s Bad Boy Records in 2012.
A year after releasing his first mixtape, Kharbouch achieved his first major success with the song “Choppa Choppa Down” in 2010. On May 21, 2013, he made his first studio album, Excuse My French. Jungle Rules, Montana’s second studio album, was released in July 2017 and reached its top position of number three on the Billboard 200. The single “Unforgettable” (with Swae Lee), which was Montana’s only song to do so as a lead artist, served as the album’s promotional tool.
French Montana Early life
On November 9, 1984, in Casablanca, Morocco, Karim Kharbouch was born. He spent the first 13 years of his life at the family estate outside of Casablanca, where he grew up.His two favorite childhood pastimes, according to him, were soccer and rap. He only discovered basketball in his later adolescence.
With his parents and younger brother, Kharbouch traveled to New York City in the middle of the 1990s. They made their home in the South Bronx. When he originally came, Kharbouch could only speak French and Moroccan Darija Arabic; he later picked up English on the streets and in the Roosevelt and Lehman high schools in the Bronx. His mother chose to stay behind with their children due to the lack of prospects back home, but after two years of struggle, his father decided they would relocate back to Casablanca.
At the time, his mother was expecting their younger sibling, who was born in America shortly after his father left for Morocco. His mother was reliant on welfare because she had three children. Kharbouch eventually found himself the family’s main provider of income.
French Montana Career
In 2002, when he was still a teenager, French Montana started his career as a combat rapper. He and a close friend produced a line of street DVDs dubbed “Cocaine City” that included interviews with well-known rappers as well as up-and-coming artists. Street music was another key topic.
He also showcased his musical prowess on the DVDs. He managed the eight-year-long series with the assistance of several childhood buddies.
French Revolution, his debut mixtape, was released in 2007. Collaborations with rappers Tony Yayo, Jae Millz, and Uncle Murda were among them. He released his second mixtape, titled “Live from Africa,” the following year.
He worked with rapper Max B to create the mixtape “Coke Wave” the same year. It became available in February 2009. Over the next months, he continued to produce and release a number of more mixtapes. In September 2010, his eleventh mixtape, “Coke Boys,” was made available. ‘Choppa Choppa Down’ became a radio and club success.
Rick Ross and he worked together on the album “Self Made Vol. 1.” Montana made a guest appearance on the album along with rappers like Jeremih and J. Cole. He also worked with other rappers on a number of different projects throughout his career.
His song “Pop That,” which was slated to be the lead single off his debut studio album “Excuse My French,” was released in June 2012. It included prominent rappers Drake and Lil Wayne in addition to his fellow rapper Rick Ross as guests. On the US Billboard Hot 100, it reached its peak at No. 36.
‘Excuse My French’, his debut studio album, was eventually published on May 21, 2013. It made its US Billboard 200 debut at position #4. It also became one of Montana’s most commercially successful pieces after selling 56,000 copies in its first week of availability.
His most recent album, “Jungle Rules,” his second studio album, was released on July 14, 2017.
French Montana Major Works
French Montana’s debut studio album, “Excuse My French,” is not only his first studio release but also his most important piece of work to date. It was made available in May 2013. Numerous well-known rappers, including Diddy, Drake, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Scarface, and Snoop Dogg, were featured on the album. The album had a spectacular debut, coming in at number 4 on the US Billboard 200. In the first week after release, 56,000 copies were sold, and in the next three years, 177,000 copies were sold.
His second studio album, “Jungle Rules,” was made available on July 14, 2017. Popular rappers Travis Scott, Young Thug, Max B, and Pharrell Williams made cameo appearances on it. There were singles on it including “Bring Dem Things,” “Whiskey Eyes,” and “Unforgettable.”
French Montana Awards & Achievements
In 2013, French Montana received the BET Hip Hop Award for “Best Club Banger” for his song “Pop That,” and in 2016, he got the award for “Best Collaboration” for his song “All the Way Up.”
French Montana Controversy
In the 2020s, there have been numerous allegations of sexual assault against French Montana, the earliest of which go back years. He disputes charges made by numerous women of rape, drug-assisted sexual assault, violence, sexual harassment, and other sexual offenses for which the statute of limitations either did not apply or had not yet run in nearly all of the cases. French Montana was charged with raping a lady who was unable to defend herself at his former Hidden Hills, California, residence in March 2020.
In a March 28, 2018, incident that was reported to police, a woman going by the pseudonym “Jane Doe” sued Montana for assault and battery, sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring, supervision, and retention, and negligence. The woman claimed that Montana drugged her and raped her while she was unconscious on his bathroom floor.
The lawsuit claimed that Montana “had a longstanding practice of inviting women to his recording sessions or choosing women at bars and would sometimes provide drugs without the women’s knowledge or consent to interfere with the women’s ability to knowingly consent to sexual activity.” The claim against Montana is that he gave women alcohol and narcotics “with the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with them, without any regard to whether or not they consented, or were able to consent.”
She said in her court document that “Kharbouch (French Montana) was one of the men who entered the room and sexually assaulted her” Doe used a rape kit and immediately reported the claimed rape to the police; a later analysis by the police revealed the presence of semen.
A second woman, Moroccan model Sarah Kamilla, accused Montana of sexual assault in May 2021. Kamilla claimed that while she was in the restroom at a dinner party hosted by Palestinian rapper Belly at the W Hotel in Miami in 2017, when she was a teenager, Montana cornered her and attempted to rape her. A third woman, Kayla Rose, then accused Montana of sexual assault in 2021. She said that in 2018, while she was in a hotel room in Las Vegas, Montana had sexually assaulted her while she was in the bathroom. Rose later reported the incident to the police.
French Montana plagiarized in the year 2021. Without permission, Montana cut and pasted the opening line of Astrid S’ song “Jump” into the single “How You King?” Astrid S earned payment for the stolen lyrics and retrospectively received correct credit as a co-writer.
French Montana Philanthropy
After filming his “Unforgettable” video in Uganda in 2017, Montana began his philanthropic activity. The song attracted over a billion streams and remained in the top 10 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. His work in Uganda helped generate $500,000 to build the Suubi hospital, which is used by more than 300,000 Ugandans.
French donated $100,000 to a hospital in Uganda as part of his charity endeavors, and as a result, he was appointed an Ambassador for Global Citizen in 2018.
Personal life
In addition to his native Arabic, Montana also speaks French and English with ease. One of his primary inspirations, according to him, is being a father.
Montana has lived in the Pequannock Township, New Jersey, neighborhood of Pompton Plains. He paid $3.3 million in 2016 to purchase Selena Gomez’s Calabasas, California, house.
In 2007, Montana wed Deen Kharbouch. 2012 saw the separation of the couple, and 2014 saw the completion of their divorce. A boy was delivered to them in October 2010.
Montana acceded to American citizenship in June 2018.
Montana was shot in the head as he left a recording studio in New York in 2003 by two assailants. He was hospitalized for a while after surviving. In what is thought to be an instance of “friendly fire” by one attacker against the other, one of the gunmen lost his life during the event. The incident was looked into in Montana, but the charge was ultimately dropped. In the beginning of 2013, Montana went to the scene of the shooting with a Life+Times camera crew to talk about his near-death experience and his childhood in the Bronx.
Since the attempted murder ten years prior, this was the first time he had been there. French claimed that someone close to him and his circle set him up.
French Montana Exotic pets
French has owned a variety of pets, including dogs and unusual creatures like tigers and monkeys. French Montana uploaded an Instagram photo with the caption “Got so high last night bought 2 baby tigers” on April 22, 2013. The image showed a Frenchman outside, one holding a tiger cub on each arm. Later that year, French released the music video for “The Gifted” with friend and artist The Weeknd, which notably featured the tigers, Ike and Tina. The rapper revealed in 2014 that he had abandoned the two tigers not long after purchasing them, citing the challenge of feeding and caring for the creatures.
French Montana has owned Julius Ceasor, a pet monkey, since late 2014. On December 18, a video of the animal was posted online, showing French and music producer Mally Mall boarding a private jet as French held the baby monkey in his arms.
Musical influences
Among the hip hop musicians French Montana grew up listening to were Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Snoop Dogg, and Wu-Tang Clan. He considers himself to be a music enthusiast in general and has used samples from numerous artists, including American singer Lana Del Rey, English soul/R&B singers Adele and Amy Winehouse, English rock band Florence + the Machine, and English soul/R&B singer Amy Winehouse.
Who is French Montana?
Karim Kharbouch, as French Montana, was born in Casablanca, Morocco, on November 9, 1984. The hip-hop artist’s family moved to New York City, New York, when he was 13 years old. When he was little, the artist loved both soccer and rap. Kharbouch took on the role of the family’s primary provider once his father returned to Morocco. Montana got full US citizenship later in June 2018.
Why is French Montana so famous
From “Unforgettable” starring Swae Lee to “Pop That” with contributions from Rick Ross, Drake, and Lil Wayne to J Balvin’s “Ay Vamos” and Lil Jon’s powerful “Turn Down for What,” to name just a few, Montana has produced a number of powerful songs that have achieved multiplatinum status.
What girls has French Montana dated?
- French Montana is a popular rapperCredit: AFP.
- French Montana and Trina dated between 2013 and 2014Credit: Getty.
- Khlo̩ Kardashian and French Montana dated briefly in 2014Credit: Getty РContributor.
- French Montana dated Iggy Azalea for a few months in 2016Credit: Getty.
How did French Montana make his money?
French Montana began his career as a battle rapper back in 2002, recording his street rap bouts on DVDs under the moniker Cocaine City, which quickly gained popularity and went viral. From 2002 to 2010, 14 volumes of Cocaine City were released, along with a variety of other projects.
What part of Africa is French Montana from?
Rapper Karim Kharbouch, best known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American. Karim Kharbouch was born on November 9, 1984. He was born and reared in Morocco before moving to the US when he was 13 years old.
How many houses and cars does French Montana have?
Montana paid $3.3 million for Selena Gomez’s 8,000-square-foot mansion in Calabasas, California, in 2016. He spent roughly $400,000 renovating the guest home, turning it into a recording studio. The hip-hop artist doubled his purchase price by listing the home for sale at $6.6 million. Montana later reduced the price to $5.999 million, and it eventually sold in September 2021 for $5 million. The rapper spent $8.42 million buying a mansion in Hidden Hills, California, in December 2020.
Paul George, an NBA player, had originally listed the house for $9.5 million. The hip-hop singer once resided in a 6,000 square foot mansion on a 1.4 acre estate in Pequannock Township, New Jersey, California. For $995,000, he paid for the property in 2013. Kharbouch put the house up for sale in 2018 for $1.4 million, but as of February 2022, it appears he hasn’t found a buyer.
Over the years, the hip-hop artist has amassed an amazing collection of high-end vehicles. After two weeks in the hospital due to a health concern, he treated himself to a $1.5 million Bugatti Veyron in December 2019. His collection also includes a Laraki Epitome ($2.5 million), a Rolls Royce Wraith ($330,000), and a Rolls Royce Cullinan ($330,000).
How much does French Montana make per year?
The yearly earnings of French Montana are unknown. He is thought to be worth $22 million, nevertheless.
What investments does French Montana have?
French Montana has made an investment in a brand-new company that will undoubtedly succeed. The company rents out high-end vehicles. For those who wish to live the luxurious lifestyle without having to pay a high price, this is a fantastic chance.
How many Endorsement deals does French Montana have?
Given his notoriety, it is no surprise that the rapper has endorsement agreements with several prestigious companies, including as Diddy’s Ciroc Vodka, Pelle Pelle, and Coca-Cola, the world’s largest soft drink company.
How many Philanthropy works has French Montana supported?
The rapper was named a Global Citizen Ambassador in 2018 in recognition of his humanitarian initiatives in Uganda. He had traveled to the country of East Africa to film the Unforgettable video, and while there, he had raised the $500,000 needed to build the Suubi Hospital. More than 300,000 Ugandans are treated at the hospital.
