The exotic animal gift Swizz Beatz gave to French Montana
Bronx rapper French Montana has had a lengthy career and was quite the star during the 2000s. From appearances alongside DJ Khaled, Rhianna, Trey Songz, and more, the ‘Unforgettable’ hitmaker has an exceptional track record when it comes to club bangers. That said, he has worked with many A-listers and big superstars, and in 2022, one of the people he collaborated with decided to buy him an exotic animal.
For his 38th birthday, French Montana decided to throw a mansion party in Los Angeles’ Hidden Hills neighbourhood, and the guest list saw stars like Chris Brown, Jamie Foxx, Vin Diesel, Tiffany Haddish, Jordin Sparks, Soulja Boy, Coi Leray and the Ruff Ryders beatmaker, Swizz Beatz.
Montana’s parents first came to the US as immigrants from Morocco, and to honour this, Swizz Beatz decided to buy Montana a camel for his birthday. French Montana shouted out the producer on Instagram, writing, “Shout my n***a Swizz. He got me a camel for my birthday.” Swizz Beatz responded, “Had to bring my brother a Big gift @saudibronx HBD @frenchmontana BX Zaaaaaaaa.”
Swizz Beatz also did it for slightly selfish reasons, as he has since admitted that he has a love of camel racing, a popular sport in the Gulf states. Speaking to Variety magazine about it, the producer explained, “Before you buy camels, you get to observe them,” he shared. “There’s test races where you can get to understand the attitude of the camels. Say, for instance, you’re seeing a camel suddenly go from the right lane to all the way across to the left — you can tell that that camel has a bad attitude. That might not be your best camel out of the gate.”
He continued, “You want a camel that is focused, that listens to commands. You want camels from great homes and breeders. They get treated very well — amazing food, massages. Camels have to feel the love to give the love. You can’t have stressed-out camels in a race. Camels are sacred over there.”
Although a camel is an unusual gift they are on the list of legal exotic animals you can own in the state of California, although it is recommended that they have one or more acres to roam. A lot of rappers have had exotic pet companions. At one point YoungBoy Never Broke Again had a tiger and shared a video of himself outside his home walking around with a baby tiger.
However, California emcee Tyga got in a lot of trouble for a similar thing, when, in 2014, he was forced to take the tiger to a non-profit sanctuary after word got out that he was illegally housing the animal. The sanctuary addressed the situation, claiming that Tyga turned the tiger over to professional caretakers.