Jungle Rules Explained

Jungle Rules is the second studio album by Moroccan-American rapper French Montana. It was released on July 14, 2017 by Coke Boys, Bad Boy and Epic Records.^[1] The album succeeds his mixtape MC4 (2016), which was originally intended to be his second studio album. It features guest appearances from Future, Travis Scott, The Weeknd, Young Thug, Pharrell Williams, Quavo, T.I., Swae Lee, Marc E. Bassy, Chinx and Max B, among others. Production derives from frequent collaborator Harry Fraud, as well as Scott Storch, Detail, London on da Track, Mike Will Made It and others. The album was supported by the singles "No Pressure" featuring Future and "Unforgettable" featuring Swae Lee.

Jungle Rules received generally positive reviews from critics. It debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, selling 52,000 copies in its first week. In October 2017, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Background

The title Jungle Rules was originally announced on August 25, 2015, in the midst of Chris Brown's "One Hell of a Nite Tour" which ran between August and September which the rapper co-headlined.^{[2] [3]} The title was shelved, however, when in October the mixtape was released under the name Coke Zoo.^{[4] [5]} On June 12, 2017, Billboard attended a documentary screening and listening party hosted by French Montana in New York City.^[6] The event featured previews of tracks expected on the upcoming sophomore album.^[6] In a subsequent radio interview with Angie Martinez, he confirmed having completed recording three upcoming projects, including one being a collaboration, and the other his next album.^[7] The title Jungle Rules was revived following his performance at the 2017 BET Awards, where the name and release date was revealed for July 14.^[1] The track listing was revealed on July 5, 2017.^[8]

Singles

The joint lead singles "No Pressure" and "Unforgettable" were released on April 7, 2017 for streaming and digital download. The latter peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming the highest-charting single as well as the first top 10 single of his career as lead artist to date.

"A Lie" featuring The Weeknd was sent to rhythmic radio as the album's third official single on August 22, 2017. It peaked at number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Famous" was sent to rhythmic radio as the album's fourth official single on November 28, 2017. The two remix versions of the song featuring HoodCelebrityy and Adam Levine, were both released on February 9 and August 24, 2018, respectively.^{[9] [10]}

Promotional singles

On July 11, 2017, "Jump" featuring American rapper Travis Scott, was released as a promotional single.^[11]

Critical reception

Jungle Rules received generally favorable reviews from critics upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 68, based on 8 reviews. Sheldon Pearce of Pitchfork commented that "Jungle Rules doesn't answer any of the questions that have circled French Montana his entire career, chiefly: Can he be a leading man and can he be as interesting on wax as he is in the day to day? He has evolved quite a bit since Excuse My French, coming up with moments of sharpness, but he is still limited in what he can do. His music flattens the showy life he lives. If there's a case to be made for his vibrance, it isn't this." Riley Wallace of Exclaim! gave a positive review, stating French Montana "delivers a cohesive cover-to-cover platter of flame emojis that traverse his range". Neil Yeung of AllMusic wrote: "In the end, with enough highlights that could constitute a tighter and more effective track list, Jungle Rules suffers from lengthy playlist aspirations and not enough focus."

Commercial performance

Jungle Rules debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 with 52,000 album-equivalent units, of which 16,000 were pure album sales in its first week.^[12] On June 11, 2020, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over a million units in the United States.^[13]

Track listing

Track notes

• signifies a co-producer
• signifies an additional producer
• signifies an uncredited producer
• "Unforgettable" originally featured a guest verse from Jeremih

Sample credits

• "Jump" contains a sample of "Headlock", written and performed by Imogen Heap.
• "Bring Dem Things" contains a sample of "Last Hope's Gone", written by Paul Butterfield, Jim Haynie and David Sanborn, and performed by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band; samples of "Mingus Fingus No. 2", written and performed by Charles Mingus; and a sample of "Take Me to the Mardi Gras", written by Paul Simon, and performed by Bob James.
• "Bag" is a remix of "That Bag", written and performed by Ziico Niico.
• "Formula" is a remix of "Formula", written and performed by Alkaline.
• "White Dress" contains a sample of "Aeorien", written by Francisco Vidal, and performed by Fran Soto featuring Aeralie Bringhton.

Credits and personnel

Performance

• French Montana – primary artist
• Chinx – featured artist
• Swae Lee – featured artist
• The Weeknd – featured artist
• Max B – featured artist
• Travis Scott – featured artist
• Pharrell Williams – featured artist
• Ziico Niico – featured artist
• Quavo – featured artist
• Future – featured artist
• T.I. – featured artist
• Young Thug – featured artist
• Marc E. Bassy – featured artist
• Alkaline – featured artist
• Fe – background vocals
• Fernick Gibbs – background vocals
• Rick Steel – background vocals
• The Kid Daytona – background vocals
• Dafina Zeqiri – background vocals
• Terik Morris – speaker
• Rico Love – background vocals

Production

• Puff Daddy – executive production
• French Montana – executive production
• Rick Steel – executive production, production, additional production
• Ben Billions – production
• C.P Dubb – production
• Jaegan – production
• 1Mind – production
• Harry Fraud – production
• Nova – production
• Floyd Bentley – production, co-production
• Frank Dukes – production
• Ism – production
• Ziggy on the Keyboard – production
• London on da Track – production
• J Holt – production
• Murda Beatz – production
• Scott Storch – production
• Beat Billionaire – production
• Nic Nac – production
• NightxNight – production
• Alkaline – production
• Lee Milla – production
• DtownThaGreat – production
• Rico Love – production
• Alex Lustig – production
• 2Epik – production
• Shaun Lopez – additional production
• DaHeala – additional production
• DannyBoyStyles – additional production
• Masar – additional production
• DanjaHandz – additional production
• DaviDior – additional production
• Pharrell Williams – co-production
• Detail – co-production
• CuBeatz – co-production

Technical

• • Emerson Mancini – mastering Dave Kutch – mastering
  • Jaycen Joshua – mixing Fabian Marasciullo – mixing
• Ell – recording
• Rick Steel – recording
• Floyd Bentley – recording
• Harry Fraud – recording
• Masar – recording
• Shi Kamiyama – recording
• Jaydawn – recording
• Evan LaRay Brunson – recording
• Bijan – recording
• Shawn Jarrett – recording
• John Shullman –recording
• David Nakaji – engineering assistance
• Maddox Chim – engineering assistance
• Raul Barcena – engineering assistance
• Sean Klein – engineering assistance
• McCoy Socalgargoyle – engineering assistance

Design

• Ben Swantek – art design and photography
• Koury Angelo – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2017)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[14]	67
New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[15]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (2017)	Position
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[16]	70
US Billboard 200[17]	130
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[18]	44

Notes and References

1. Web site: Lindsey India . French Montana's Jungle Rules Album Drops Next Month . . June 26, 2017. June 27, 2017.
2. 636406312868421633. FrencHMonTanA. JUNGLE RULES‼️. June 27, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170627202150/https://twitter.com/FrencHMonTanA/status/636406312868421633 . August 25, 2015 .
3. 637779004141998080. FrencHMonTanA.
   1. onehellofnight #junglerules #newtape...
   . June 27, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170627202236/https://twitter.com/FrencHMonTanA/status/637779004141998080 . August 29, 2015 .
4. Web site: Ready For A Fetty Wap And French Montana Mixtape? . MTV.com . October 12, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151013030736/http://www.mtv.com/news/2346695/fetty-wap-french-montana-mixtape . October 13, 2015 .
5. Web site: Sanaa Lathan unveils French Montana and Fetty Wap's CokeZoo mixtape cover . HipHopVibe . October 16, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151017122508/http://www.hip-hopvibe.com/2015/10/16/sanaa-lathan-unveils-french-montana-and-fetty-waps-cokezoo-mixtape-cover-photo . October 17, 2015 .
6. Web site: Carl Lamarre . French Montana Screens New Documentary Project: Unforgettable, Previews Weeknd, Max B & Pharrell Collaborations . . June 13, 2017. June 15, 2017.
7. Web site: French Montana Talks Iggy Azalea, Snipe Squad Commandments + His Smash Hit Unforgettable . . June 14, 2017 . June 15, 2017.
8. Web site: French Montana Reveals 'Jungle Rules' Tracklist. HipHop-N-More. July 5, 2017. July 5, 2017.
9. Web site: French Montana – Famous (Remix) featuring HoodCelebrityy. iTunes Store. August 24, 2018.
10. Web site: French Montana – Famous (Remix) featuring Adam Levine. iTunes Store. August 24, 2018.
11. Web site: French Montana - Jump (Feat. Travis Scott) . Rap Dose . July 11, 2017.
12. JAY-Z's '4:44' Spends Second Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart, French Montana Debuts at No. 3. Billboard. Caulfield. Keith. July 23, 2017. July 24, 2017.
13. Web site: RIAA Certifications - French Montana. . June 15, 2020.
14. Web site: ARIA Chart Watch #430. auspOp. July 22, 2017. July 22, 2017. July 29, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170729152147/https://www.auspop.com.au/2017/07/aria-chart-watch-430/. dead.
15. Web site: NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart. Recorded Music NZ. July 24, 2017. July 21, 2017.
16. Web site: Album Top-100 2017. Hitlisten. January 11, 2018.
17. Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2017. Billboard. December 12, 2017.
18. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2017. Billboard. June 30, 2020.