For Khadija

French Montana stopped by Billboard News to talk about the creation of his new film, For Khadija, the rise of Afrobeats, his thoughts on reality TV and more!

French Montana:Never follow people that got all the answers. Follow people that got all the questions. What up? What up? It’s your boy, French Montana, and you’re watching Billboard News!

Rania Aniftos:Hey, everybody! It’s Rania Aniftos with Billboard News, and I’m here with Grammy-nominated rapper and Billboard chart-topper French Montana. So we’re here to talk about such an incredible project that you’ve been working on and it’s finally going to see the light of day, For Khadija. An incredible documentary! Why was now the right time to tell such an intimate story?

French Montana:I’m about to put you on the story. See, I’m really from Africa. You know going through everything I went through in my career, I feel like it finally makes sense. It’s a story, beginning to end of a chapter. It was a chapter when my mother came here, sacrificed for us, and went back after 25 years. And it felt like that was like the closure of us coming, me struggling in the Bronx, not knowing English, being culture shock about the whole move that we made, my father and my mother, him leaving, us getting on welfare and struggling, then for me to be French Montana. My mother didn’t see her family for, like, 25 years.

Rania Aniftos:And it’s true. I mean, spotlighting immigrant voices in that way is so unique, especially when people might see you and they’re like, “Oh, he’s French Montana. What struggles could he have had?” But you have this whole incredible story leading up to this point.

French Montana:Exactly. It’s showing people all the hurdles and taking all the wounds. You know? One thing about the wounds, that’s where the light enters, showing people if you only work on sunny days, you’ll never reach your destination.

Watch the full video above to hear him speak on the rise of Afrobeats, why he’s not a fan of reality TV and more!