It's one of the most buzzworthy stories of the past few days. Following Kanye West's viral Saturday Night Live performances and news of his forthcoming album, Yeezus, releasing on June 18, fellow rapper J. Cole on Monday decided to move up his own album release to the same date, explaining that West "is one of the greatest artists of our generation. Which is exactly why I'm moving my release date up."

Shortly after the announcement, the Twittersphere lit up with varying opinions about the MC's decision to go up against Ye like that. But as Cole puts it, "instantly the lightbulb [turned on]... it got real ... The idea hit me instantly: 'You got to go to that date,'" he told Billboard in a new interview.

"I worked too hard to come a week later after Kanye West drops an amazing album," he said. "It'd be like, 'Oh and J. Cole dropped too, a week later.' Nah. I'm going to go see him on that date. He's the greatest. So it's like, I'm a competitor by nature so it was instant, it wasn't even a thought."

J. Cole's sophomore album, Born Sinner, arrives on June 18 via Roc Nation/Universal.

UPDATE: Watch J. Cole perform "Power Trip" Tuesday night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, with assistance from The Roots.