Shoutout to Ab-Soul:

Jesus Christ and Shawn Carter are my only idols
No, Jesus Christ and Shawn Carter are my only rivals
I’m the Messiah of rap, my catalog’s the Bible

Additionally, Jay has said before that “his religion is the beat”, so it follows that his body of work is his scripture, with his lyrics being its verses.

Nas plays on Cole’s hook, and mentions his own mentors to draw a comparison between Cole’s situation and the Nas' own experiences.

Cole paid homage to the legends he grew up to in the 90s, and Nas references his childhood heroes from one generation before: the 80s.

The choice of artists does full justice to the ones Cole mentioned, because like Tupac, Slick Rick was the universally acclaimed king of rap, and like Nas, Kool G Rap was the lesser known legend who made stylistic and technical contributions that influenced an entire generation of rappers.

Here’s a quick summary of the two greats and their influence on Nas:

Slick Rick is a New York MC, who was born in England, and is known for his bling and vivid storytelling.

In the era when Nas grew up, Slick Rick was the king and had a massive influence on rappers who came after him. Nas has stated that The Great Adventures of Slick Rick was one of the most influential albums to him, and has mentioned it in his songs as well..

The direct influence of Slick Rick is clearly seen in Nas' style. Ricky D was known to be the innovator and master of storytelling rap (peep Children’s Story), and stories have been a central part of the lyricism of Nas, who has released some of the best storytelling songs of all time, like the classic “One Love”.

On the other hand, Kool G Rap may not have gotten as much shine as Slick Rick, but he is well known as one of hip-hop’s main originators. He coined multi-syllabic rap and for someone like Nas, wrote the blueprint of how to rap. In fact, Nas has said that Kool G Rap’s Streets of New York was influential for “N.Y. State of Mind”, one of Nas' most famous songs. Kool G was also a pioneer of the sub-genre mafioso rap, that Nas was influenced by making his sophomore album It Was Written.

“They steal your whole style, that’s a soundbite” – Kanye West, Don’t Like

The fight and bite themes are continuations of the last line, assuming he’s referencing referencing Mike Tyson, who notoriously bit off a part of Evander Holyfield’s ear during a rematch.

Note that there is a clear difference between the “hating-ass niggas” and the “snakes”. While the former are the people who will openly fight with him through disses, the latter are the type who sneak up on him when he isn’t watching and damage him behind the scenes.

Given all the religious imagery here, it would certainly seem like the use of the word “snake” isn’t an accident with numerous references to serpents in the bible.

For example, in the Book of Genesis a snake was able to coherece Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, which eventually led to them getting kicked out of the Garden of Eden.

When J. Cole was younger he worked at an ice rink at his hometown, Fayetteville. His job would be handing out the ice skates.

He saw an “old perverted white man” saying that all women are pink on the inside, you can fuck any woman and it’ll be the same. However, Cole extrapolates from this that it can be applied to all people; we all have the same insides, it’s just the exterior that varies.

Although the perverted man is being candidly ignorant while making this statement, Cole sees past the surface ignorance for the wisdom deep in the phrasing.

Fun fact: Cole has said in interviews the author of this quote was actually his racist manager.

Although 2Pac is revered as a legend and the face of rap, Nas is actually the one who wrote the foundation of hip-hop. Nas' 1994 album, Illmatic is often referred to as the Bible of Rap, and many rappers credit Nas' flow-structures and lyrical storytelling as a blueprint for how to make classic hip-hop music.

Cole also used a very similar line in his song “I Got It” (2009):

And all hell, I started studying my idols
Pac was like Jesus, The Source was the Bible

“Pac was like Jesus” may also be referring the cover of Pac’s 1996 album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, which shows Pac being crucified much like Jesus.

And Nas' “bible” itself could actually be referring to his Book Of Rhymes.

Also, he says this implying Pac was more well known and respected. While, Nas was underrated (hence no one knows who wrote the bible). He also shows how people live by the bible and look up to and follow Jesus.