French Montana begs for his respect in the not-so stacked “They Got Amnesia.”
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TOP 5
5. Bag Season
I want some bags, too! (Watch French and Tjay f**k around and give me a colostomy bag)
Lil Tjay has been killing s**t as of late. He is featured on “Bag Season,” and as expected, he makes the song. In it, the New York rapper blesses us with a hook that straddles the line between catchy and annoying masterfully. He also drops a verse that perfectly illustrates why having a bag can make respect come to you from all angles.
French Montana makes “Bag Season” not as great. I do somewhat mess with his flows in the song (They are trickier than trying to kill a roach with a pep to its step).
4. Panicking
French Montana and Fivio Foreign work really well together in “Panicking.”
The jury is out on whether or not French does drill music well. What I will say is this: I think that “Panicking” is clearly his best drill effort to date. To me, the song flows well, feels hella authentic, and features rap styles by Fivio and French that are refreshingly trill, sly, and New York. All in all, I like this joint a lot!
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3. FWGAB
I feel like we had to be told that “FWGAB” was hot (Americans don’t like being told what to do).
Interestingly, “FWMGAB (Fuck With Me Get A Bag)” samples the beat that powers one of New York City’s biggest hits of all time: “Deju Vu” by Peter Gunz and Lord Tariq. What’s also interesting about the track is that French Montana relies on a hook that sounds very similar to a bunch of different hooks that he dropped in the past (Especially the hooks from “Off The Rip” and “Straight For The Bag”). What’s not interesting is French’s raps in the song (They are just a little too erratic and blah for me).
I guess “FWGAB” is a good song…
2. Touch The Sky
I’m biased. I tend to love tracks with John Legend and Rick Ross.
“Touch The Sky” just feels like an important song, right? The beat is dramatic as f**k, John Legend’s hook is pretty soulful, French’s verse is honorable as hell, and Rick Ross’ verse is beyond bossy. I just feel like this is the only track on the album that feels grandiose (I feel like veteran rappers need to have more grandiose records in their music catalogs).
“Touch The Sky” is the kind of song that will earn French some respect in the game.
1. Stuck In The Jungle
“Stuck In The Jungle” should be performed only in prestigious theatres (The song is that riveting).
“Stuck In The Jungle” features an unbelievable beat, a Pop Smoke hook that will give you chills, a pretty aggressive/honest verse by Lil Durk, and one of French Montana’s sliest/hardest/most effective verses to date. When you combine everything that I just mentioned, you get hip-hop gold.
SONG BY SONG BREAKDOWN
1. ICU (N/A)
2. How You King? (4/5)
3. FWMGAB (4/5)
4. I Don’t Really Care (4/5)
5. Touch The Sky (4/5)
6. Mopstick (3/5)
7. Stuck In The Jungle (5/5)
8. Handstand (3/5)
9. Panicking (4/5)
10. Didn’t Get Far (3/5)
11. The Paper (4/5)
12. Tonight Only (3/5)
13. Business (3/5)
14. Push Start (4/5)
15. Striptease (4/5)
16. Bag Season (4/5)
17. Fraud (4/5)
18. Prayer (Skit) (N/A)
19. Appreciate Everything (3/5)
20. Losing Weight (3/5)
21. FWMGAB Remix (4/5)
RGM RATING
(C+)
French Montana will never get the respect that he deserves. In my opinion, he makes decent albums and songs, I just think that he fishes for hits a little too much. With that being said, in They Got Amnesia, you get a good mix of forced hits, solid album cuts, and good collaborations (Believe someone when they tell you who they are).
I’m not exactly sure whether or not this is French’s best album release (I thought that his debut album was pretty good). What I can tell you is that I think it’s his most impressive album release. In They Got Amnesia, French displays an uncanny ability to make solid solo cuts (“I Don’t Really Care,” “How You King,” “FWMGAB,” “Losing Weight”), an uncanny ability to make club hits, an uncanny ability to make solid drill tracks, and an uncanny ability to put guests in positions to succeed (Perhaps his strongest suit). I also feel like he actually had a few verses in which he opened up about some personal s**t very effectively. At the end of the day, the album has a bunch of amazing beats and great features; I just don’t think that French has the necessary skills to turn what is the perfect setup into something that is great (No disrespect, but If you replaced French with a more skilled rapper, this album might f**k around and be a classic).
French deserves his flowers (You don’t have to give him the nicest flowers in the ozone layer, just give him some flowers that you can buy at CVS). I think that he has had a small impact on the hip-hop game that is being ignored. Albums such as They Got Amnesia might make you appreciate him a little more.
Quincy is the creator of Ratings Game Music. He loves writing about music, taking long walks on beaches, and spaghetti that fights him back.