Kevin Gates revealed he was a victim of molestation. During a recent episode of “Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson,” the emcee opened up about his rap career and his tough exterior, both of which were coping mechanisms to deal with the abuse he experienced as a child.

“It was an escape for me,” he said of his decision to start rapping. “I’ma say something, I never said this in no interview, no podcast or anything like that. I grew up real, real violent and real aggressive. Not because I wanted to be but because I was molested when I was a child.”

“I took every kind of martial art you can take I even boxed, I did everything,” he continued. “I wanted to be the toughest person on earth, but writing and making music was always an escape for me. Like, I never had the nuts to come out and say that. This my first time saying this today.”

Gates’ admission resonated with Tyson — who shared his own experiences with sexual assault in the past. “I know that route, too,” the professional boxer said. “Why do you think I became the meanest motherfucker on the planet? Somebody did something to me. I didn’t want it to happen again, so I became this guy.”

“Take it to the furthest extent,” Gates responded. “That’s my story, but it was really everything that I did, even when people say like, ‘Kevin Gates, he’s this killer,’ I’m not. I’m not.”

He then explained his reason for publicly discussing his molestation. “I speak about it now is because I just released a mixtape like maybe a few months ago, and guys walk up to me in the gym…Bodybuilders hugged me and crying like, ‘I went through the same shit you went through.’ …,” Gates said. “So, I guess I’m on the right path…But at the end of the day, I started, we started killing and things of that nature because we had a fear of being vulnerable.”

See the conversation between Kevin Gates and Mike Tyson below.