French Montana’s “Unforgettable” Song Review

Hello, I’m MusiCommentator, and I am honestly surprised that this song “Unforgettable” became famous.  I am not saying anything against the song (yet); I’m just talking about the fact that it was made by French Montana.  I mean, he is no super popular rapper.  His name is recognizable in the hip hop community, but it usually is not one that strikes joy in the hearts of many.  The fact that this song hit the mainstream, based solely on the fact that it was made by French Montana, baffles me.

I digress, though.  I am basing this on biases I have already known, so maybe there is something different about this song from the others he has made in the past.  After all, he made a track that is considered one of 2017’s best summer hits (I am NOT recognizing Despacito!)  Plus, it has a Swae Lee feature on it, and while I am not super fan of Rae Sremmurd, Swae Lee has had good potential on all tracks I have heard him featured on.  Maybe I should check this song out.  Summer is almost over, so I guess I should review this as a last hurrah.  The song starts with Swae Lee’s chorus.

“It’s not good enough for me
Since I’ve been with you, ooh
It’s not gonna work for you
Nobody can equal me (I know)”

From previous encounters I have had with this song, I got the impression that it was supposed to be love anthem for the summer.  From this chorus, however, I am not really getting that.  It sounds more like a prestigious rapper saying that no girl is great enough for his standards.  Is this really what people want in their summer songs?  I do not see the appeal in that.

“I’m gonna sip on this drink, when I’m f***ed up
I should know how to pick up
I’m gonna catch the rhythm
While she push up against me, ooh, is she tipsy?”

Now he is giving us another scene.  He is singing about meeting a girl at the club and hooking up with her.  Alright, it is getting a bit better.  I mean, this is stereotypical stuff for most rap songs, but it is better than the first four lines.

“I peep’d you from across the room
Pretty little body, dancin’ like GoGo, hey
And you are unforgettable
I need to get you alone (oeh)”

This is making a lot more sense now.  So, from the beginning, Swae Lee is setting up his persona as cold and untouchable, like most rappers would be.  However, during one of his many escapades to the club, he finds a girl that he is attracted to, but when he gets to her, he realizes that she is not a normal girl.  With this whole story coming together, it is not that bad.  I am actually enjoying this chorus now.

“Why not? A f***in’ good time never hurt nobody”

A good time has hurt a lot of people.  Have you ever heard of STDs?

“If you loved the girl, then I’m so, so sorry
I gotta give it to her like we in a marriage”

Of course, this chick he is after cannot be single.  No, Swae has to be hitting on someone else’s girl.  He could never be with someone that isn’t in a committed relationship, right?  Also, if Swae Lee is trying to go off of stereotypes with that marriage line, I think he got it wrong.  However, I am not married, so I am not going to talk about it.  I will just let you husband and wives stew over this lovely line Swae Lee has gifted to us.

Nonetheless, I love this chorus!  Swae Lee’s echoing vocals fit perfectly over the dancehall drums and marimbas.  And, though his lyrics started off rocky, he pulled through and created a narrative that was generally likable for a summer jam.  The song, though, is not over.  French Montana has to give us the two verses of the song, and I actually have some hope for him.  Swae Lee did an acceptable job, and this beat is a great one to bob your head to.  In addition, there was an Instagram post made by French himself that explained the single’s cover.  For brevity’s sake, the short version is that the image is of his parents at their wedding and he explained how he was able to connect to it on a deeply personal level.  There is nothing left to do, then, than listen to his first verse.

“Feelin’ like I’m fresh out; Boosie
If they want the drama, got the Uzi”

Wait…what’s happening here?

“Ship the whole crew to the cruise ship
Doin’ s*** you don’t even see in movies”

No, French, stop!  Wait a darn second here!  This does not sound anything like what he was portraying before.  What happened to the deep love you told of your parents?  What happened to anything Swae Lee was saying?  He is just reverting to the very basic brag rap lines he always resorts to!  Why did I have any hope in him?

Hold on, MusiCommentator.  Calm yourself.  These are only the first few lines of his verse.  He might have more to offer.

“Ride with me, ride with me, boss”

Okay, he might be leading into something here.  Maybe he could twist it and make it about some type of love he has.  Just maybe…

“I got a hard head, but her a** soft”

Nope, he is just talking about sex.  As usual.

“You ain’t enough for me
Too much for you alone
Baby, go and grab some bad b****es, bring ’em home”

This is the difference between Swae and French on this song.  Besides the fact that the autotune on his voice here is terribly awkward, the context spells out a lot.  In Swae Lee’s chorus, he acted very arrogant and full of himself in the beginning, but ended up turning around and flipping it so this arrogance was stripped when he met someone he really liked.  In this section French gives us, he makes sure to deliver that cocky swagger most mainstream rappers utilize, but does not give himself any redeeming qualities like Swae Lee did.  And this is not part of a story like Swae Lee set up.  This is just a bunch of lines that talk about how great he is.  It is just filled with what he does “best” (notice how I put that in sarcastic quotes): basic brag rap!

I believe that the bridge sums this whole song up pretty well.  The first two lines are Swae Lee’s, while the last two are French Montana’s:

“And you are unforgettable
I need to get you alone

Now you wanna choose
Just pop the bubbly in the ‘cuzi”

These two bars come right next to one another, and it shows the difference between the two rappers on the song.  Swae Lee gives the audience a story of a girl that, even if he does just want sexual exploits from, is at least giving him some feelings relatable to love.  French Montana, on the other hand, just boasts around his riches and cares about nothing else except the sexual exploits, enticing his targets with his money and disregarding them when he had gotten what he wanted out of them.  I honestly never thought I would be defending Swae Lee so much in my entire life, but when you put him next to English Dakota over here, he looks like Picasso!

You know, I really wanted to like this song a lot.  I really did.  The beat is one of the catchiest ones of the entire summer, and the instruments are quite a variation from most mainstream music.  Swae Lee does a great job, his ambient vocals and bare-boned yet fitting anecdote suit themselves quiet nicely with the atmosphere of the song.  French, however, could not keep his mind on one simple topic without veering astray to talk about his riches if his life depended on it!  I heard that this track was originally supposed to be Swae Lee’s and featuring Jeremih, but French bought the beat for a large enough amount and got Swae to feature on it.  I would have gladly taken the Swae Lee/Jeremih version than any version of this song with French Montana.  This song would have been a lot better if French just kept his grubby little hands to himself.  Even if French was bad, there were enough good qualities to this song to make me give it a 3 out of 5.  Do you agree?

Thank you for reading my “Unforgettable” song review. If you liked this review, make sure to follow my website, Twitter, and Instagram, like this post, and be sure to check in to read my future reviews. Also, if you have something you want to see me review, tell me in the comments. Until then, keep on listening to good music! I know I will.