FRENCH MONTANA & DJ DRAMA ‘COKE BOYS 6’ BRINGS THE WAVE BACK

French Montana was always determined to position his people once he blew up. He laid the groundwork for the creation of Coke Boys with his crew while he was still grinding in The Bronx with the help of his Cocaine City street DVDs. The movement’s founding members, Coke Boy Brock, Coke Boy Droop Pop, and Cheeze, were joined by Max B, the late Chinx, Flip, and Charlie Rock during its heyday. These musicians were given the chance to shine on the Coke Boys mixtape series, with French taking the lead. If they are successful, the crew members who put in enough effort might start their own independent careers.

Numerous Coke Boy mixtapes have been released over the years, each one showcasing a particular period in French music and the crew members that capitalized on the occasion, such as Lil Durk on Coke Boys 4 and Chinx on Coke Boys 2. With the help of outside New York artists like Rick Ross, Waka Flocka Flame, 2 Chainz, Wale, and Mac Miller, the Coke Boys records allowed French to spread the Coke Wave over the globe.

The goal of Coke Boys 6 is to bridge the gap between the original Coke Boys (Max B, Chinx, and Cheeze) and the Coke Boys 2.0 by introducing Dthang, T Dot, and Kenzo B along with the crew’s extended family. French also makes the mixtape a Gangsta Grillz with DJ Drama.

Since DJ Drama and French have a history dating back to their 2009 album Cocaine Konvicts: Gangsta Grillz, their recent reunion in 2023 finds them at various stages of their careers. With his hosting responsibilities, Dram is in high demand. French sounds much more focused than before and is back to creating music with a gritty atmosphere. Both recognize the power of their platforms and use it right away to speak out against the continued violence against the hip-hop culture on “The Oath.”

On the street where homicides occur, French raps, “Light a candle, say a prayer for the past homies ain’t no longer here / Fast money never slow down / Cycle goes on and on like a merry-go-round.” Chinx provides French with another gem. Later in the song, French mentions a few of our “fallen soldiers” like Pop Smoke, Nipsey Hussle, and King Von before detailing his stories of almost escaping death and surviving being shot in the head. “A few make out expect for the chosen ones / You heard plenty of songs, this the unspoken one,” French raps.

Coke Boys 6 isn’t the same without Max B and Chinx because Don Montega is its focal point. French has made it his goal to preserve their names and pay tribute to them in his albums. From that emotional space, “Not So Bad” emerges, turning Eminem’s “Stan” into a reflective song about paranoia and how “he won’t be straight with Max behind that wall.” French’s “Whipp’n It Slowly,” a dope boy song that sampled the Fugees’ “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” is nearly forgotten in favor of “Not So Bad” since it represents the right approach.

Cheeze, who is featured on four tracks, has the opportunity to truly step up and fill the vacuum created by Max B and Chinx’s absence. The output of Max B’s unreleased music continues to decline until he returns, which should be in April if stories are to be believed. Biggavelli does, however, phone in with a recorded call from prison (“Max B Skit”) and appears on a wavy solo song (“Lemonade”). The same may be said for Chinx’s stockpile, whose CR6 project resembled splicing together unfinished tracks. As Cheddar weaves in and out of the beginning with Stove God Cooks, it leaves Cheeze to fill the position of the Sixth Man. Cheeze dominates this performance and shines especially well on the soulful songs “Going Yeezy” and “Addicted to You.”

French, who is undoubtedly the most well-known rapper in terms of securing guest appearances and producing songs, has established a career off of his celebrity connections. A$AP is brought in by French because Coke Boys aren’t yet established enough to keep Coke Boys 6 firmly inside the camp. Smooky and Rocky For some bigger looks, check out MarGielaa (“Chit Chat”), Rob49 (“Igloo”), Jeremih (“Choose You”), Benny the Butcher (“RZA”), Big 30 and EST Gee (“Free Smoke”), and Nav (“Fenty”). For once, French isn’t trying to become the next chart-topper, and by allowing the crowd choose the songs, it works to his advantage. French picked up remixing skills from Puff and feels at home on Vory’s “Project Baby,” King Comb’s “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop,”  Pheelz and Bnxn’s Afro-fusion sensation “Finesse.” and other songs.

On “RZA,” he uses GZA’s “Shadowboxin'” as a parable for smoking on your Rushmore (also known as the Top 5) and competing against no one but yourself. “I follow the OG, not the IG,” he asserts. French sounds utterly done with the major label system and ready to embrace his next stage as an independent artist as he raps, “Jimmy Iovine in the scope / They ain’t happy we got rich, they wanted blood,” in the beginning.

On the day of release, Coke Boys 6 was released in two different formats, the Money Heist Edition with 29 tracks and the original version featuring 20 tracks. Only by lengthening the album and drawing attention to “Gang Gang,” an homage to French’s “Shot Caller,” with new signees Kenzo B and DThang, do the additional nine tracks manage to offer any redeeming value. Tory Lanez’s appearance on LGP Qua’s “Earned” is the result of a gross error of judgment, which appears particularly unfortunate given the Megan Thee Stallion shooting trial. But in all actuality, Coke Boys 6 is where the series needed to go because it gave French the reins, featured the Coke Boys artists rather than cramming the tracklist with big-name artists, and kept the Coke Boys collective hot until the Silver Surfer made a comeback.