French Montana

Karim Kharbouch, aka French Montana, blanketed New York's underground rap scene in the early 2000s with his Cocaine City DVD series. Montana later connected with Harlem rapper Max B for the Coke Wave mixtape series.  Born in Morocco, Montana moved to the Bronx in the 1990s. In 2009, he signed a deal with Akon's Konvict Music. While he split with Konvict, his mixtape onslaught garnered the attention of other artist-executives such as Rick Ross, Kanye West and P. Diddy. In 2011, he announded on BET's 106 & Park that he signed with Diddy's Bad Boy Records. Two years later, in May 2013, he released his debut album, Excuse My French.