French Montana doubles down on claim he has 'more hits' than Kendrick Lamar

Rapper French Montana has doubled down on his claim that he has more hits than Kendrick Lamar.

In an interview with Complex magazine last week, Montana said he could go “neck to neck” with Lamar and that he has “more hits” than his rival, who is also a Pulitzer Prize winner.

"I mean, honestly, I could go against anybody. You could put somebody like Kendrick Lamar next to me on the same stage at a festival," Montana said.

"I might outshine him... not because I'm a better rapper or whatever it is. It's just that I got more hits. Kendrick Lamar got albums. He got masterpieces.

"But if you was to put us on the festival stage, I would outshine him because I have more hits than Kendrick Lamar."

After facing bemusement and questions from fans, Montana has reiterated his comments in a series of tweets.

“I BELIEVE I CAN GO NECK TO NECK !! I BEEN MAKING HITS FOR A LONG TIME ! IT AINT MY FAULT I BELIEVE IN MYSELF,” he wrote.

“HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION ? HOW MANY TIMES I GOTTA PROVE MYSELF BEFORE I GET MINE.” [sic]

He continued: “I love kendrick! that’s not just for kendrick that’s to anybody they put in front of me, and ask me that same question what u want me to say lol ? It should be your attitude too. If u think any less of yourself don’t blame it on the next person who don’t !" [sic]

French went on to say Lamar is a “different artist,” and that “he is gonna win everything else”.

Fans were bemused by Montana's comments, taking to Twitter to question his comments.

Lamar has had 15 singles in the UK top 40 charts, while French Montana has had six.

Lamar’s album To Pimp A Butterfly also went to number one in the UK in 2015 and he was set to headline Glastonbury this year, before the festival was called off.

His 2017 album Damn was the first first non-classical and non-jazz album to win the Pulitzer Prize for music.