French Montana — CB5 [mixtape]

Six years after the last edition, French Montana returns to propose its mixtape series "Coke Boys", which has reached chapter number five. The production is made by 26 people, including French Montana himself and Harry Fraud, who makes 4 beats. Guests are Jim Jones, Lil Durk, Pop Smoke, Jack Harlow, Chinx, Rafi Malice, Max B, YoungBoy NBA, Benny the Butcher, Zak, ASAP Rocky, LGP Qua, Lil Mosey and Currensy.

The album starts well with the first two or three cuts, then collapses after about eight minutes, no longer supported either by the music and by the performers. I'm not going to write the names of the two producers of "Too Late", but their laid-back trap rhythm is decent, with a melodic female soulful sample: French Montana passes quickly, then Jim Jones arrives and kills the cut. I thought that Lil Durk had ruined "Brothers" with his contribution in autotune, instead, he fits well with Harry Fraud's melodic production, the rhythm is good, French Montana still subdued. From the third choice onwards, the tape sinks and can't get out of the mud anymore: "Double G" is a feeble attempt to drill with Pop Smoke on a forgettable rhythm. "Hot Boy Bling" is the witness of the failure of the whole project: the Moroccan rapper is at his worst on one of the worst productions on the tape (credit goes to four different people), along with Jack Harlow, who sounds badly as always, and Lil Durk, who is better than the other two on this type of beats.

Track number five has average somber trap rhythm, but Montana sounds very mediocre here. The MC still retains Chinx bars on poor forgettable trap rhythms ("Could It Be", "I Know") and inserts Max B stanzas that don't feel needed on this bad production ("Paradise", "Phenomenon"). In particular, "Paradise" stands out in the negative, which is a generic trap piece in a dull attempt to remake his hit "Unforgettable": however, without good rhythm and inspired interpreters, a faded copy comes out. YoungBoy Never Broke Again brings energy to the tape's umpteenth generic beat trap, then Benny turns on the project in "Wave Blues".

The rest of "CB5" is completely forgettable: half of the guests arrive, none noteworthy on a generic, often poor, melodic trap production. There would be Currensy on a Harry Fraud rhythm in the final part ("In the Sun, Pt. 2"), but the track goes almost unnoticed, because Currensy's contribution isn't inspired as usual, despite arriving in one of his best seasons, and the rhythm is quite generic and lackluster, despite being provided by one of the fittest producers of the moment in the circuit. In "You Deserve an Oscar", French Montana attempts pop rap banger for the club one last time with almost decent melodic trap production, but the attempt remains in his hand due to his effortless delivery and lyrics that never helped him in career. "How We Doin It" deserves a separate note: on a melodic trap rhythm, Lil Mosey pays homage / copies Dua Lipa from "Levitating" on the hook.

Distributed by Coke Boys, Bad Boy and Epic, the mixtape is a good commercial success. With nineteen tracks and almost an hour of listening, the tape is one of the worst ever made by French Montana, where even Harry Fraud's music sounds worse than usual, quite flat and gray. Not recommended, 4/10.