The 'Unforgettable' hitmaker has not touched a drop of alcohol and is focusing on his good health since he found himself hospitalized upon collapsing at his Los Angeles home in late November 2019.
- Dec 29, 2020
AceShowbiz - Rapper French Montana hasn't touched a drop of alcohol since he was hospitalised in an intensive care unit 11 days after his 35th birthday celebrations last year.
The "Unforgettable" hitmaker experienced intense stomach pains and an elevated heart rate before collapsing at his Los Angeles home in late November, 2019, when he spent two weeks under doctors' care, and the health crisis forced Montana to tame his wild lifestyle, after performing in five different countries in just one week.
"I was runnin' for like a good 20 years without a break, and God put a stop to that. I had a little health scare," he told XXL magazine, before quipping, "I tell people all the time, 'If you don't end up in the ICU after your birthday, then it wasn't a good birthday!' "
However, Montana admits he had also been pushing his body to the limit by relying on prescription pills to keep himself on the move.
"(It was) a combination of a lot of things: being fatigued, dehydrated, you know, losing myself chasing money, chasing the wrong things," he explained of the hectic week of work and partying prior to his collapse. "Too much drinking, too many pills, you know, boom."
Montana confesses to taking amphetamine Adderall to stay awake, and Percocets for pain relief, which quickly turned into a pill-popping "hobby".
"I feel like 90 percent of musicians (are) on that," he claimed.
The hip-hop star has since turned his back on drink and drugs and is now focused on staying in good health, both physically and mentally.
"It was just overdoing something for too long," he continued. "And, to the point where, now sober is becoming my new high. People seen I was out of control, not me, you know what I'm saying? 'Cause... it's almost like, you know, working out. You don't see you getting big 'cause you see yourself every day. It's the same thing with you being out of control (sic)."
"The new thing is the triple R thing: you gotta be rich in health, rich in spirit and rich with money," he explained. "If all you got is money, you don't got nothing. And that's the thing that I got closer to, you know (sic)."
After an extended break, Montana considers this his new chapter in life, and he's proud to have turned his life around for the better.
"I think that was like the hardest thing I ever did in my life, to snatch myself back...," he said. "So, for me to stop everything and just step back, that was like one of my biggest accomplishments... So that was the day, it was November 21, last year (when he collapsed). And since that day, I never had a drink. I just made a year."
