MONTANA

*MONTANA*, the third official album from celebrated Bronx MC French Montana, comes to us a full two years after *Jungle Rules*, but it’s not as if he left us altogether music-less in that time. A good portion of *MONTANA*, in fact, plays like a highlight reel of the MC’s most recent marquee collaborations turned playlist-impacting singles. Songs like “Writing on the Wall” with Post Malone, Cardi B, and Rvssian, “Slide” with Blueface and Lil Tjay, and the City Girls collab “Wiggle It,” along with “No Stylist” and “No Shopping” (both of which feature longtime Montana supporter Drake), all help to thicken up a 20-song tracklist. Debuting with the release of the album are guest verses from Quavo, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Swae Lee, and Chris Brown, along with multiple appearances from Kodak Black and Juicy J. Day-one French Montana fans are treated to contributions from dearly departed French associate Chinx as well as currently incarcerated Harlem icon Max B on “Coke Wave Boys.” It’s about French at the end of the day, though, and whether he’s drenched in Auto-Tune (“Lifestyle,” “Salam Alaykum”) or barring up in that familiar street-corner cipher style he broke out with (“Montana,” “That Way”), the man clearly knows how to party. And it’s not hard to see why so many people are eager to join him.

The double album from the Bronx rapper is a bloated, grab-bag of singles made for Hornblower cruises and thirty-second timeouts at Madison Square Garden.