French Montana is living a healthier lifestyle after he was admitted into a hospital last year following a health scare. The “Pop That” emcee spoke to XXL and opened up about his decision to stop drinking as he enters, what he calls, his “second chapter in the game.”

Shortly after French celebrated his 35th birthday last November, he was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for a combination of exhaustion and addiction. “I was runnin’ for like a good 20 years without a break and God put a stop to that,” he said. “I had a little health scare. I tell people all the time, ‘If you don’t end up in the ICU after your birthday, then it wasn’t a good birthday.’”

According to the outlet, the Excuse My French rapper performed in five different countries in one week. He had experienced stomach pains, cardiac arrest and an elevated heart rate prior to being check into the hospital. French says it was “a combination of a lot of things: being fatigued, dehydrated, you know, losing myself chasing money, chasing the wrong things.” Once he arrived back to Los Angeles, he collapsed. “Too much drinking, too many pills, you know, boom,” he added.

“It was just overdoing something for too long,” he continued. “And, to the point where, now sober is becoming my new high. People seen I was out of control, not me, you know what I’m saying? ’Cause, you know, it’s almost like, you know, working out. You don’t see you getting big ’cause you see yourself every day. It’s the same thing with you being out of control.”

Now, French says he is in control of his health after taking a break from music and social media. He is now celebrating a little over one year of being completing sober from alcohol.

“…I just did French 2.0. And this is how I changed it,” he said. “Stepped back, took two steps back, didn’t drop no music, detox from social media…everybody is drugged up…Everything got control of my life but me, you know what I’m saying? It was a mixture of things, you know what I’m saying? And I think that was like the hardest thing I ever did in my life, to snatch myself back…So, for me to stop everything and just step back, that was like one of my biggest accomplishments. Top two, it’s after taking my mother back to Africa…So, that was the day, it was Nov. 21 last year. And since that day, I never had a drink. I just made a year.”

We are wishing the best for French on his new journey!