

He's trying to raise awareness and help other victims. But Tech isn't rapping about his sexual assault to garner sympathy or add more shock value to his music.

Only about 10% of sexual assault victims in the United States are male, and male sexual assault victims often suffer from "disrupted reality," heightened anxiety, and a sense of alienation, among other possible effects. His horrorcore rap style and "King of Darkness" moniker make even more sense knowing that he was a victim of sexual assault. As a professional, Tech has battled drug and alcohol addiction, a divorce, and lackluster album sales. He would explore abandoned buildings in his neighborhood with his friend Brian Dennis, trying to catch a ghost on film. Born Aaron Yates, Tech never met his father, and his mother suffered from both epilepsy and lupus. What matters is the fact that a prominent MC was open enough to share something about an issue that's taboo in hip-hop. Though the last name is omitted for legal reasons, Tech's rhyme scheme makes it easy enough for friends, family, and associates to derive who his assaulter was. From Something Else's seventh song, "I Am Not a Saint": The Kansas City, Missouri, rapper has been active for more than two decades, but this is the first time he's publicly acknowledged being assaulted. Tech opened up about being sexually assaulted in the seventh grade on his most recent album, Something Else, his 13th studio LP, which was released Tuesday through his Strange Music imprint. And now we know that he was also a victim of sexual assault. Tech N9ne is known as a lot of different things: a critically-acclaimed hip-hop artist, a live performer with a cult following, the head of an independent record label.
