Throughout Jay Montana’s career, the Alabama-born rapper has put a premium on honesty and vulnerability. He’s a descendent of the blues rap generation, imbuing his songs with soulful half-sung deliveries about spurned love and his maturation as a musician and person. On Montana 3, his first album of 2026 following four full-lengths in ’25, he builds on this theme, concocting an album that notes the highs and lows of life as a rising MC. On “Locked In,” he wonders why the partner he was devoted to is now ghosting him. He raps, “I barely hear from you and I’m confused, ain’t we locked in?/To live life, I died twice, them long nights made me a man.” On “Enemies,” though, Montana explains that these slights and betrayals have only given him a Teflon-like strength. Over a bass- and hi-hat-heavy beat, he raps, “I been backstabbed, I roll a blunt and laugh while I bleed.”