It's no surprise by now that J. Cole admires Nas. In fact, it'd be an understatement. The North Carolina emcee collaborated on Cole's "Let Nas Down" track from his album Born Sinner and during a speech at the 2014 VIBE Impact Awards, Cole would go on to explain why Nas played such an important role in his come-up as a rapper.

J. Cole spoke on the track "I Gave You Power" and first hearing it in his cousin's car. "A lightbulb went off and I knew right there that, 'Oh my God. This ni**a's the greatest,'" J. Cole said when recalling the first time his older cousin played Nas for him in the car. "All the fronting I was doing just came to a cease and I knew that this was something I was so thankful to be aware of."

Cole would speak on Nas' lyrics and using them as inspiration. "As a rapper, there's very few greats that I study and I still continue to study and Nas is obviously one of them," J. Cole said. "I really had his lyrics printed on my wall... I would print these joints out and I would hang them up on my wall and if you'd walk in my room [you'd be like], 'What is wrong with this kid?' I'd just be there standing and reading the lyrics. I really wanted to know what it was like to be that good. I was rapping at the time and it was my goal to be that good."

Check out J. Cole's full speech in the video above.