Today (Oct. 30), French Montana released his new record “Double G,” which features a posthumous verse from Pop Smoke. Speaking with Beats 1’s Zane Lowe, Montana revealed that he and Pop had actually recorded a lot of music together that, sadly, didn’t make it out before the 20-year-old’s tragic passing.
“A lot of people don’t realize how close me and Pop Smoke was,” Montana began. “We was friends outside the music and we had a lot of music together that we was planning on putting out and I’m just so sad we didn’t get a chance to do that.”
“So, I just picked out one of my favorite ones and just put it out,” he continued, referring to “Double G.”
Montana, who moved to the South Bronx as a teenager, went on to explain how he and Pop formed a close bond.
“He’s from New York; he represents the culture. He represents everything about New York,” Montana said. “Once we met, we just became real close. And studio time — studio after studio — we just built that bond.”
The “Unforgettable” artist revealed that as time went on, he and Pop recorded nearly a project’s worth of songs together.
“We came out with almost like a project together; that’s how many songs we had,” he said. “Pop Smoke… he was just from the town. He was like a little brother.”
However, don’t expect Montana to empty the rest of his vault anytime soon.
“I would never put out anything more than [one song] with somebody that’s not here to enjoy it because it’s too painful,” the rapper explained to Lowe.
“You know, to watch the video… to even put it out — that’s why I was even contemplating putting [‘Double G’] out. He deserves more than that.”
“Double G” is expected to be followed by an official music video soon and land on Montana’s upcoming Coke Boys 5. Also today, Pop was posthumously featured on Jay Gwuapo’s “Black Mask.” Earlier in the week, the late Brooklyn native was honored with the Best New Hip Hop Artist award at the 2020 BET Hip Hop Awards.
Stream “Double G” below.