Azealia Banks was beaten up by her ex-boyfriend.

The 23-year-old rapper has claimed she was injured by her former lover, who was nearly triple her age, because he was envious of her success and new-found fame.

Speaking in the April issue of Playboy magazine about her longest relationship, she said: ''It started when I was 17. He was 43. There's something very wrong with a man that age who wants to date a 17-year-old girl ... And as [my single] '212' started to pop off and my career started to happen, he became jealous. He choked me and beat me up, and of course you should not be f***ing with a man who puts his hands on you, but I was stupid and young.''

The outspoken beauty, who's been involved in verbal spats with the likes of Iggy Azalea and T.I. in the past, appeared on the magazine completely naked surrounded by black cats.

But she has admitted stripping off for the publication wasn't an issue for her because she loves flashing the flesh for the cameras.

She explained: ''I love getting naked. It's so funny, every time my manager arranges a photo shoot, I'm like, 'Let's do a nude photo!' And everyone's like, 'Oh, Azealia, you're always trying to bring your butt out.' Posing for Playboy was a no-brainer. I was like, 'Yes! They want to see me naked.' ''

The adult magazine previously described the shoot by veteran Austrian fashion photographer and director Ellen von Unwerth as a ''frisky pictorial that's sure to break the internet.''