S. Samuel
Roc Nation's J. Cole may be in a relationship these days but the rapper recently revealed his teenage crush on producer Swizz Beatz's wife Alicia Keys.
While Cole said R&B singer Mariah Carey had his heart as a child, the Roc Nation star admitted Keys stole his attention back in 1999.
“One time when I was like, 14, Alicia Keys had just came out, I was in love with her,” Cole revealed in an interview. “If you ask my mom, she’ll tell you. I had a super duper crush on Alicia Keys. There were a few of these in my life. Mariah Carey was one when I was real young and Alicia Keys when I was a little older, I felt like I had a chance. So I’m at this Alicia Keys concert with my cousin in Dallas, I’m 14, mind you, ’99, I’m like 14 — she ends her performance and I tell my cousin, ‘Yo, there’s only one place for her to go now. She gotta leave from the back.’ So I convince my cousin to go to the back. So now the same things that girls are doing to me at the shows, I was that guy. … I’m behind the gate and she just got in her car and passed. But my ultimate goal was that she was going to be like, ‘You, 14 years-old, [come with me].’ I say that to say there’s nothing weird a fan can do — I get it.” (“The Crosby Press”)
Earlier this year, Cole said he wished Carey had a daughter his age he could date during his younger days.
“Growing up, it was Mariah Carey,” Cole revealed in an interview with radio host Jenny Boom Boom. “Definitely. I used to pray that Mariah Carey had a daughter my age, you know what I mean? [laughs] Um, Alicia Keys for a while, when she came out. I had mad little young crushes. [Prettiest girl] in the game? … I’m looking at a picture of LaLa, she’s very pretty. Rocsi from ‘106 & Park,’ she’s very pretty. … Who else? Oh, Meagan Good. Meagan, good God. Rihanna’s pretty. [Those rumors] actually helped my record sales a whole lot. [laughs]” (“Jenny Boom Boom”)
In 2011, Cole revealed his childhood crush on late R&B singer Aaliyah.
“Aaliyah, man, it’s such a [tragedy],” Cole said in an interview. “I had such a crush on Aaliyah. It was like a little boy crush but it was a true crush. Then when she died, I called my mentor because he was way older than me and I was like, ‘Man, you think it would be corny? I want to make a beat.’ I was always naming my beats, and this beat I wanna make for Aaliyah. Not a song, I just wanted to make a beat…I did a beat. I wish I could remember, like, I remember slightly what the beat sounded like. But that was my way to pay respect in my own little world, in my own room, just making a beat for her.” (Soul Culture)
A couple years ago, Cole nixed speculation of having a fling with Rihanna.
“I just let ’em talk. They also say I’ve got a sex tape [with Rihanna] and they say I got dropped from Roc Nation,” Cole said in an interview. “It’s been a h*ll of a two weeks. They put a picture of one of my fans on the Internet and said it was my girlfriend — I figured out, now that I’m on the other side [of the rumor mill], it’s just so random. It doesn’t start from no where, it’s just like tabloids back in the day. People get paid, they making their money off of making up kind of outlandish stories. ‘Jay-Z said he gon’ beat J. Cole up when he sees him, said he better watch out.’ And it’s always a very reliable source — That’s a genius rumor [the sex tape with Rihanna], ’cause that’s still sticking and it’s two weeks later almost. It’s an annoying compliment. The fact that they’re even talking and I don’t have no album out and I’m making the little gossip sites [is cool], but I stay getting texts from people saying, ‘Oh man, you good? You all right? I heard you got dropped. Keep your head up, fam.'” (Sucker Free)
Check out J. Cole’s interview:
