French Montana reflects on the ‘sacrifice’ of selling drugs to help struggling mom

French Montana, the well-known rapper, is sharing his story of adversity before his ascent to fame in the entertainment industry. In the documentary named after his mother, Khadija, Montana reflects on his decision to sell drugs on the streets to support his struggling mother.

The Tribeca Festival on Friday will see the premiere of Montana's documentary For Khadija at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. The film documents the rapper's remarkable journey to fame, as well as his mother's unwavering dedication to raising her three sons alone after Montana's father abandoned the family.

The Unforgettable rapper faced numerous obstacles, such as being undocumented and being rejected from university scholarships.

To assist his struggling mother and support his family, he even resorted to dealing drugs. However, Montana believes that these challenges helped shape him into the person he is today.

"The greatness start after your comfort zone," Montana told PEOPLE. "I knew that everything I was going to do was going to be out of the ordinary and I would have to sacrifice to get where I needed to go. Sacrificing was me being in the streets, because I hated to see my mother working 12 hours for $100."

After taking his mother back to Morocco for the first time in more than two decades, Montana began working on this documentary in 2017. He hopes that it will demonstrate to viewers that "miracles do happen."

"You just got to let go, man, and have faith,” the rapper says.