In his Jan. 27 interview on "The Combat Jack Show," J. Cole revealed that he wanted to sign fellow critically acclaimed rapper Kendrick years ago.

The North Carolina lyricist was introduced to the Compton emcee back in 2010, when neither of them had a major-label debut album released.

"I met Kendrick at a time when all I had out was 'The Warm Up,' nobody knew who he was, he didn't have a deal," he said. "He was signed to Top [Dawg Entertainment] -- I didn't know he was signed to Top."

Immediately acknowledging his talent, J. Cole wanted to bring Kendrick under his wings.

"I actually wanted to sign him, but I didn't have my business right. I didn't know he was with [TDE]," J. Cole explained. "But in my mind, he was the first person I ever found ... I remember telling everybody like, 'Yo, I'm tryna sign this kid. Like yo, this n---a's nasty!"

The "2014 Forest Hills Drive" hitmaker also recalled his first time seeing K. Dot performing at a release party for a Los Angeles hip-hop duo U-N-I.

"I'm looking at this short, dark-skinned kid like, 'Yo, who is this kid?' and then he gets on the mic and murders. I'm a rapper's rapper and I'm not easily impressed, and when I heard him, I was instantly [impressed]."

J. Cole then approached and complemented the "B---h, Don't Kill My Vibe" rapper, who reminded him that they had already met before at the 2010 XXL Freshman shoot along with Jay Rock.

"He was like, 'I was asking [the editors] to give me your spot.' But they didn't know who he was," J. Cole continued.

Kendrick Lamar then emailed him two tracks "P---y and Patron" and "Cut You Off" later that night.

"I was like, 'Yo, I'm f--kin' with this n---a. I wanna sign this n---a,'" he said. "From there, I felt compelled to always give him any jewels I could. This n---a blew the f--k up and reached levels that I hadn't reached. I didn't know the n---a would go platinum before me, but I definitely saw it for him. I believed and believe."

Check out J. Cole's full 2-hour interview below:

Related