Jungle Rules received generally positive reviews from critics. It debuted at number three on the USBillboard 200, selling 52,000 copies in its first week. In October 2017, the album was certifiedGold by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The titleJungle Rules was originally announced on August 25, 2015, in the midst ofChris Brown's "One Hell of a Nite Tour" which ran between August and September which the rapper co-headlined.[5][6] The title was shelved, however, when in October the mixtape was released under the nameCoke Zoo.[7][8] On June 12, 2017,Billboard attended a documentary screening and listening party hosted by French Montana in New York City.[9] The event featured previews of tracks expected on the upcoming sophomore album.[9] In a subsequent radio interview withAngie Martinez, he confirmed having completed recording three upcoming projects, including one being a collaboration, and the other his next album.[10] The titleJungle Rules was revived following his performance at the2017 BET Awards, where the name and release date was revealed for July 14.[4] The track listing was revealed on July 5, 2017.[11]
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 USBillboard 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" featuringThe 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 featuringHoodCelebrityy andAdam Levine, were both released on February 9 and August 24, 2018, respectively.[12][13]
Jungle Rules received generally favorable reviews from critics upon release. AtMetacritic, which assigns anormalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received anaverage score of 68, based on 8 reviews.[15] Sheldon Pearce ofPitchfork 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 sinceExcuse 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."[18] Riley Wallace ofExclaim! gave a positive review, stating French Montana "delivers a cohesive cover-to-cover platter of flame emojis that traverse his range".[17] Neil Yeung ofAllMusic 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."[16]
"Unforgettable" originally featured a guest verse fromJeremih
Sample credits
"Jump" contains a sample of "Headlock", written and performed byImogen 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 byCharles Mingus; and a sample of "Take Me to the Mardi Gras", written byPaul Simon, and performed byBob 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.
