Photo: Epic Records / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
French Montana's story is one of the more underrated immigrant come-up tales in hip-hop: born in Casablanca, raised in the Bronx, hustling DVDs before the world knew his name. He's never been a technical lyricist's favorite, but he has an undeniable ear for the kind of hook that lodges in your brain, and Unforgettable going diamond proves it. His ad-libs are a genre unto themselves. I appreciate that he leans into being a vibe merchant rather than overreaching, and the charity work he's done back in Morocco and Uganda shows there's substance behind the casual swagger.
Overview
French Montana (born Karim Kharbouch in 1984) is a Moroccan-American rapper, songwriter and producer who was born in Casablanca and raised in the Bronx, New York. He built an early following through his Cocaine City DVD mixtape series before breaking through with hits like Pop That and the diamond-certified single Unforgettable featuring Swae Lee. He is associated with the Coke Boys collective and has released studio albums including Excuse My French and Jungle Rules.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- French Montana
- Name (Japanese)
- フレンチ・モンタナ
- Reading
- ふれんち・もんたな
- Born
- November 9, 1984 (age 41)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Scorpio / Rat
- Origin
- Casablanca, Morocco
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- Rapper / Songwriter / Music producer / Singer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Theodore Roosevelt High School
- University
- Private
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Rapper — see all → · Songwriter — see all → · More people from Morocco →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.