The enemies of my enemies are my friends. This universal law united Max B and French Montana. By the end of the noughties, both are angry with Jim Jones. After being the driving force of his ByrdGang collective, the former violently breaks ties with the Dipset rapper, whom he thinks has fooled him. As a result, he gets closer to Karim Kharbouch, a.k.a. French Montana, a Moroccan based in New York with his own grudge against Jim Jones. By 2008, they collaborate on "Waavvy", a track from French's second mixtape, Live From Africa. And a few months later, the duo releases its first project, a key mixtape from of the year 2009.
Coke Wave is a mixtape because no other option is left. Due to their vendetta with the Dipset clan, they are blacklisted in the rap industry. For that reason, just before he goes to prison for an indefinite time, Max B can only deliver free projects. As for French Montana, who won't release any proper album before Excuse my French in 2013, he uses the Cocaine City DVD series to distribute his own work and freestyles to the streets. The project that both men eventually deliver together is also a mixtape, hosted by the good old DJ Whoo Kid. Its name, Coke Wave, mixes their respective keywords, "cocaine" and "wavy", and it is as much a continuation of their previous work, as a turning point in their careers.
By 2009, we reach the point when mixtapes stop being compilations. However, Coke Wave is still partly that. Max B and French Montana recycle some tracks they already delivered, or they use the songs of others. They sample 50 Cent on "We Wavey", for example, but they don't limit themselves to the New-York rap scene. The archetypical g-funk of 2Pac's "Can't C Me" is changed into a "Smoking". M.I.A's "Paper Planes" becomes "All I Wanna". Marvin Gaye's "I Wan't You" is turned into "I Warned You", and David Bowie's "Let's Dance" into "Been Around". As for Sting's "Englishman in New York", it is transformed into a memorable "We Run NY", a new great rap anthem to New York City.
Both rappers, though, also deliver their own original songs, and some are anthological, such as the introductive "Stake Sause". They also complement each other well: while French Montana uses the sharp and raw tone expected from a street rapper, with his clear diction, Max B delivers his own mutters and singsong. His braggadocio and his drug stories are mixed with a certain melancholy; the prison, visibly, is not far… And this contrast is sometimes amplified by the music, like with the sad piano of Dame Grease on "Goon Music".
Not only is Coke Wave a strong mixtape. It is also a milestone. Afterwards, nothing will stay the same for these men.
However, they will have very different fates. Getting close to the right people such as Diddy, Rick Ross, Waka Flocka…, and feeding the headlines – aggressions that will strengthen his street credibility, a relationship with Trina and then Khloé, one of the Kardashians – French Montana will ascent in the rap intelligentsia. Max B, though, will rot in prison. His only solace will be to see his legend growing up outside, with the active support of his Moroccan fellow.