J. Cole has 15 years and a slew of collaborations under his belt, yet he was “genuinely nervous” about jumping on BIA’s new single, “London.” According to the rapper, he was uncertain of what he could add to the song as he was already impressed with the original version.

Cole first heard the record while in the studio with BIA for “some whole other shit.” He said it was his “first time meeting her” and admits he was “blown away” by what she played. In fact, he couldn’t get the song out of his head and was reluctant to share the final version because he wanted fans to hear the earlier draft.

“I damn near didn’t even wanna put this clip up cuz I need everybody to hear this shit PURE. How I heard it!” he wrote while promoting the song on Instagram. “…I thought about this song for a month straight, it was my favorite song and I only heard it one time. She hit me recently and sent me the song (she musta knew I wanted to hear it again!!!), and I was just grateful to have it in my possession.”

“When the thought and conversation came up about me adding a verse, I was excited but genuinely nervous cuz I didn’t even see how the song could be better after what she did to it,” he continued. “I didn’t want to fuck nothing up!” Fortunately, Cole “ended up catching the right wave.”

“London” featuring J. Cole is currently available on streaming services. In his post, The Off-Season rapper thanked BIA for inviting him to be on the song. “Thank you @bia for having me on this record with you,” he penned. “Love this shit and love your energy and spirit.”

See his post below.