J. Cole, who will soon have the No.1 album in the country with The Off-Season, was a guest on Kevin Durant’s The ETCs podcast and spoke about the level of competition between himself, Kendrick Lamar, and Drake.

“These are the guys that push you, and you gotta push them,” said Cole. “But what I’ve been trying to do for the past few years, I think I was so competitive. I don’t know how they feel, you’d have to talk to them, but I know for myself I was so competitive earlier on, even though we were all friends and friendly, I never been a ‘reach out’ [person], especially when it’s competition involved.”

"It’s almost like working out together," he added. "I guess like in the NBA in the past, that was unheard of. ‘Why would I work out with this n*gga? I’m trying to destroy this n*gga.’ That was kind of like my mentality early on. But as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized, ‘Actually… Noone is truly my peer or can relate to what I’m going through in life more than these people right here.'”

Plus, the North Carolina rapper — who recently made his debut for the Rwanda Patriots in the Basketball Africa League — said he doesn't think about being competitive with Kendrick and Drake as much as he used to.

"I’ve been trying to make an effort as time goes on to strip the competition from it," Cole explained. "Y’all n*ggas are cemented forever. I would hope that I’m cemented forever. And if not, I will be when it’s all said and done. In my mind, that’s how my mentality is… There’s just less competition in my mind, 'cause n*ggas is old, bruh.”

Who would you say will go down as the best rapper between Cole, Kendrick and Drake when all is said and done?