Excuse My French

With just a glance, it’s evident that French Montana’s ascent came through a set of mixtapes set ablaze with high-caliber collaborations. The heavy-hitting cameos on his 19-track debut, Excuse My French, reads like a contemporary hip-hop impresario’s speed dial. Just how heavy? Listen for Diddy, Rick Ross, Drake, The Weeknd, Wiz Khalifa, Snoop Lion, Lil Wayne, and 2 Chainz—to name a few. But despite all these famous voices, the most exciting one might belong to French Montana himself; he alternates between quick-witted wordplay and sing-song verses that proudly confess his vices. This Editors’ Choice is packed with flashes of brilliance, but it’s hard to top the slow grind of “Paranoid” (feat. C.A.S.H.), or the full-on raunch Nicki Minaj brings to “Freaks.”