He may not be peddling his debut album just yet, but J.Cole has surely proven himself countless times as one of hip-hop's hopeful. Earlier this week VIBE debuted its controversial Greatest Rapper Alive (Under 30!) list and young simba found himself hugging the top five level with (spoiler alert!) Nicki Minaj (#4), Drake (#3), Lupe Fiasco (#2) and Lil Wayne (#1). So does Cole think we pinned him at the right slot?

"Of course I wanted number one, but I know you got to do a lot more work for that... a lot more people got to hear your voice. Five is incredible for right now though. That's beautiful."

Cole went on to say that if he could fashion his personal top five under thirty, Wale, Omen, Drake, Freddie Gibbs and himself would own those seats.

Perhaps the list's most arguable ranking rests on the top two spots between Weezy and Lupe. Cole's take? "Um, it’s tough because I’m on both sides too. But at the end of the day, I understand why Wayne is at number one just because I think Wayne's tried so many things and so many flows...basically his experimentation and creativity has worked in his advantage. But I'm definitely a Lupe fan."

via Vibe.com