J. Cole has revealed the one rapper he’s currently bumping outside of himself — and his answer might surprise you.
During an interview with the YouTube channel Lost In Vegas as part of his press run to promote The Fall-Off, the Dreamville rapper waxed poetic about longtime Wu-Tang Clan affiliate Killah Priest.
When asked which MC(s) outside of the usual Mount Rushmore candidates (JAY-Z, Nas, 2Pac, Biggie etc) that he’s currently listening to, Cole replied: “The first answer that comes to my mind is somebody that I’ve been playing the last month — this one song in particular. And it made me dive back into some of the shit he’s been releasing over the years. It’s gonna be hella left-field… but Killah Priest.”
The North Carolina native admitted that until recently he wasn’t intimately familiar with Priest’s catalog outside of his “vicious” solo track “B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)” on GZA‘s classic 1995 album Liquid Swords.
However, he was left in awe by the Brooklyn veteran’s lyrical talent when he stumbled upon on his song “NASA Case” during his recent Trunk Sale Tour.
“I played this song and this shit … it’s crazy. I didn’t know what the fuck to expect; I just clicked [on it]. It’s nine and a half minutes,” he said. “It’s not a style that’s normally the one I gravitate to. It’s super dense, it’s super — I’m not even going to say poetic. It’s prose. It’s like a book, damn near. And he’s telling this story.
“Bro, I shit you not, I’m listening to it and I’m like, ‘I can’t exactly follow what he’s talking about.’ I’m getting enough, though, to keep me hooked.”
It wasn’t until he sat with and studied the track that Cole fully grasped Killah Priest’s rhymes, instantly converting him into a fan.
“I listened to that song, I shit you not, like nine times in a row because every time I listened to it again, the story got clearer and clearer,” he continued. “And I’m like, ‘Oh my God! Is this n*gga an alien?!’
“By the time I’m done with my ninth listen and I see the concept he’s playing with, I’m like, ‘Oh my God, is this n*gga from another dimension and he knows some shit we don’t know?!’”
He added: “It’s one of the only songs outside of my album that I’m playing ’cause it’s so enjoyable and I’m so amazed with what this dude did … Shout out to Killah Priest, man.”
Looking back on some of his favorite rappers from his childhood, J. Cole named Canibus and Royce Da 5’9″ as two MCs he had particular reverence for as a lyrics-obsessed teenager.
Watch the entire segment at the 1:19:30 mark below.
