Excuse My French (2013)

Excuse My French is the debut studio album by Moroccan-American rapper French Montana. It was released on May 21, 2013, by Coke Boys Records, Bad Boy Records, Maybach Music Group and Interscope Records. The album features guest appearances from Diddy, Nicki Minaj, Drake, Ace Hood, Lil Wayne, Birdman, The Weeknd, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Max B, Ne-Yo, Machine Gun Kelly, Raekwon, Scarface and Snoop Dogg, while the production was handled by Mike Will Made It, Jahlil Beats, Reefa, Rico Love, Lex Luger and Young Chop. The album was supported by three singles: "Pop That", "Freaks" and "Ain't Worried About Nothin'".

Excuse My French garnered negative reviews from critics, finding criticism in Montana's technical delivery and the formulaic production throughout the record. The album debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200, selling 56,000 copies in its first week.

Background

French Montana revealed in a September 2012 interview with RapFix Live that he has worked with several fellow recording artists on the album, including Diddy, Nicki Minaj, Drake, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, 2 Chainz, Wale, Max B, Lana Del Rey, M.I.A., and Scarface. Montana also stated that he had a song with R&B singer The Weeknd, entitled "Gifted". In addition, on January 26, 2013, he revealed in an interview with Rap-Up TV that he had also worked with Kanye West on the album. The album cover was released on January 29, 2013.

In another January 2013 interview with Rap-Up he announced he had a song with Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg on the album and that producers on the album would include Young Chop, Harry Fraud and Rico Love. Also saying that the album would be the "album of the decade". The final track list would also reveal features from DJ Khaled, Mavado, Ace Hood, Jeremih, Raekwon, Fabolous, Trey Songz, Machine Gun Kelly, Red Cafe, Chinx Drugz, Johnny May Cash and Los. Max B performs the album's intro in a phone-in from jail with Mikey T The Movie Star During the promotional run for the album French told Hot 97 that the only artist he paid to make an appearance on his album was Max B.

Release and promotion

The album was originally set for a July 17, 2012 release before being pushed back to fall 2012. On December 20, 2012, Montana revealed that the release date would be March 12, 2013. However, it was later postponed again to April 16, 2013, and once more until May 21, 2013.

On November 19, 2012, Montana released a new mixtape, entitled Mac & Cheese 3. The mixtape included appearances from Diddy, MGK, Fat Joe, Wale, Mac Miller, Curren$y, Rick Ross, J. Cole, Trina, Prodigy, Tyga, and Ace Hood. In addition, the tape features production from Young Chop and Rico Love, among others. As of January 26, the mixtape has been downloaded more than 1 million times on mixtape hosting site DatPiff.

From February 26 to March 26, 2013, Montana embarked on the Excuse My French tour ahead of the album's official issuance. He later released 30 second snippets for every song on the record on May 12, 2013. In 2017, it was confirmed that J. Cole was originally an executive producer for the album.

Singles

The first official single released from Excuse My French was "Pop That", which featured Rick Ross, Drake, and Lil Wayne, with production from Lee on the Beats. The song was released on June 15, 2012, and peaked at 36 on the US Billboard Hot 100. On January 26, 2013, Montana announced that the next single would be released within the next week and is a remake of the song "Freaks", which originally appeared on the debut album of rapper Lil Vicious, Destination Brooklyn. "Freaks" featuring Nicki Minaj was premiered on Hot 97 on February 13, 2013, and released to iTunes the next day. On February 18, 2013, the music video was filmed for "Freaks". On March 7, 2013. the music video for "Freaks" featuring Nicki Minaj was released. On March 12, 2013, the single was released to Rhythm Crossover radio.

The song "Ain't Worried About Nothin'" would be released as the third official single, for digital download on April 15, 2013. It is his first career solo single. A music video was filmed in late April and released on May 7, 2013. The first promotional single released off the album was titled "Marble Floors" featuring Rick Ross, Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz was released on December 4, 2012. On June 19, 2013, the music video was released for "I Told Em". On September 9, 2013, the music video was released for "If I Die". On September 23, 2013, the music video was released for the Birdman and Rick Ross collaboration "Trap House". On October 15, 2013, the music video for "Gifted" featuring The Weeknd was released. On November 18, 2013, the music video was released for "Once in a While" featuring Max B. On January 20, 2014, the music video was released for "Paranoid" featuring Johnny May Cash.