Before he was a platinum rapper signed to Roc Nation, J. Cole was just a regular 14-year-old looking to meet his dream girl, Alicia Keys. In his interview with The Fat Jew for The Crosby Press, Cole spoke about his “super-duper crush” on the “Fallin'” singer.

“There was a few of these in my life. Mariah Carey was one when I was real young. Alicia Keys when I was a little older. I felt like I had a chance,” he said.

He went to her concert in Dallas in 1999 and after her set, he waited outside for her to leave. He imagined that he would get to meet her and whisk her off her feet, but it didn’t quite play out that way. Instead, she got in the car and left.

“I say all that to say, there’s nothing really weird to me that a fan can do. … I get it,” said Cole.