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Best put, Tashera Simmons epitomizes the ride-or-die chick and was once only credited for her marriage to contentious Hip-Hop icon DMX. Nonetheless, she’s now begun to build her career and self-brand.

DETAILS: DMX Checks Into Relationship Rehab

If anyone remembers X’s autobiography titled E.A.R.L. first published back in 2002, you’ll recall it told a sliver of Tashera and DMX’s coming-about story (how they met for the first time when they were 11 years old and began dating later as teenagers).

The couple married circa 1988 and have four kids together; concurrently, X allegedly has six other children outside their marriage — which comes as no surprise since X has long been forward about his infidelity to Tashera. 

In spite of their trials and tribulations, present day Tashera is starring in the VH1 reality show Couples Therapy with DMX, while she works on a non-profit organization called Women of Strength and has an autobiographical volume coming out titled Finding Tashera.

In a recent interview with theJasmineBrand.com, Tashera delved into the topics of her childhood, children, reality TV with X, and even disclosed her husband’s verbal abuse. Here are a few excerpts…

DETAILS: DMX Wants to Collaborate with Adele & Sade!

As Tashera goes into details about DMX’s infidelity, she explains:

“He says he has six kids [from other women] but he only took three blood tests, and one of them wasn’t his, two of them were. And there are three others that came up. So I don’t recognize the others, besides the two that came back positive. One of them is a girl who’s nine. I just made contact with the mother, over the winter, and got the kids together — her daughter, with our four — because I think that’s important. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s about: the kids.”

She goes further to reveal his verbally aggressive nature in their relationship, saying:

“That’s him. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I actually saw it on TV. I was just so used to him talking like that: loud, and I can’t really get a word in. He’s always like that, always dominating the conversation. Behind closed doors I would have to get like him to get my point across. I would have to yell like, ‘Mothaf*cka… If you hear what the f*ck… If you shut the f*ck…!’ He would always take me out of my character. I’m not like that, but talking to him would take me there. Just seeing the show made me realize that this is crazy. I’m glad that we separated.”

An embarrassed Tashera also recalls being completely shocked and caught off guard watching herself and DMX on TV, post filming:

“The first one I watched with Angelina (from Jersey Shore) and Reichen (from Amazing Race Season 4) – Reichen had a party at his house. And I was speechless watching when X cursed me the hell out. At that time, when it was happening, I was so busy worried about the lies he was making up, that I didn’t realize how he was talking to me. But actually watching it, I realized that I’ve been immune to that talk all of these years, and I realized that I was in a verbally abusive relationship. I was just shocked, and embarrassed.”

She touches on the idea behind Women of Strength:

“It’s an organization that I started last year, that caters towards kids and women and women who have been abandoned, or been in a drug addictive environment like myself. I just want to give back and help because I didn’t have anybody to help me. So I’ve been going out speaking to women. Now I want to start speaking to women who have been in verbally and mentally abusive relationships because, clearly, I’ve been in one.”

Tashera expounds on her up-and-coming autobiography, expressing:

“At first, I didn’t even know the name of the book, I was just writing it. But this show brought back a lot of memories from my childhood and from X. So I named it “Finding Tashera,” after I found myself on the show. Now, moving forward, I know where I want to go, what I want to do, I know my self-worth. So now I finally finished the book and I’m getting ready to start shopping it, to get a home for it. It will take about six months. But the reason why I’m writing this book is, not only to tell my story, but to inspire other women who I know can relate.”

It’s always relieving to see good people prevail from previous troubling and painful circumstances, especially in marriage. We look forward to Tashera’s succeeding endeavors and wish her nothing but the best of luck!