Puerto Rican star Anuel AA is in a good place right now. Engaged to Colombian singer Karol G and successful in the music industry, he couldn’t ask for more - but it hasn’t always been this way. In a new video shared with his online fans, the 27-year-old gets real as he shows moments of his troubled past - including his time in prison - and the reason why he decided to change and leave the dark times behind: his son, six-year-old Pablo Anuel.

The images of the Me Gusta singer handcuffed and dressed in a beige inmate uniform are shocking to see - but we also see cute footage of his reunion with little Pablo after his release. According to Primera Era, Anuel was sentenced to 30 months in jail for unlawful possession of a firearm. The rapper says the hardest part of that period was not being able to see his son. “A year passed without me seeing him,” he said to Billboard, “In the prison in Puerto Rico, they didn’t let me have any visits with him.”

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Pablo is Anuel’s son with his childhood sweetheart’s Astrid Cuevas. “It wasn’t planned,” he said during an interview with Despierta América, “but I told her I am here for you.” The reggaetonero also recalled the times when his relationship with the mother of his son was not in a great place, something that Karol G helped him to fix. “She told me, ‘You can not go on like this, you have to get on well, otherwise you’ll hurt the little one and he won’t spend that much time with you.’”

Last year, Anuel shared beautiful pictures of dad and son together to mark his birthday, “there was a time in my life when I didn’t care about risking my life or my freedom,” he wrote alongside the pictures, “until my son was born.” The singer has the sweetest words for little Pablo, “I met a person who taught me how to be a better human being, he opened my eyes and made me forget about life on the streets.”