I landed from Africa with KRS-One on the left side, Slick Rick on the right,” he said to Apple Music, before adding, “You never would have thought hip-hop would get so big back then.” Yes, he’s talking about the genre as a whole, but he could just as well be awestruck by his own worldwide success. It was the late '90s, and he wasted no time immersing himself in the culture of his new home. When French Montana arrived in the Bronx from Morocco at 13, he imagined himself alongside the legends of the borough: KRS-One, Big Pun, Slick Rick.