DMX's wife Tashera Simmons opened up about her tumultuous times with the troubled rap star in an effort to empower women at the launch event for her Women of Strength Foundation. "A lot of people just know me as the woman behind DMX. There's so much more to me than that," Simmons told NBC's Niteside blog at last night's (Oct. 26) launch party at New York's Taj Lounge. "I was definitely his support team, but there comes a point when there's nothing you can do. I was losing myself."

"A lot of women who are married to someone in hip-hop or in the industry deal with drugs," Simmons added. "I'm not quiet about that because the more I talk about it the more people will say, 'Yes, I'm dealing with that.' No one wants to talk about that."

X -- real name Earl Simmons -- and Tashera met in the late '90s before his rise to rap star and wed in 1999, but things went sour when the rapper's fame fueled his drug habit. Simmons announced her separation from X this past summer, just weeks after he was released from prison. Days after the announced separation, DMX turned himself in for yet another charge.

After supporting the rapper through his many legal woes and drug use, Simmons is stepping out on her own. The mother of four is also releasing a memoir titled 'Strength of a Woman,' but through it all she remains friends with DMX. "I spoke to him today. He wished me luck and everything," Simmons told reporters. "I always pray for him everyday because had it not been for him, I wouldn't be the woman I am today."

if(typeof AOLVP_cfg==='undefined')AOLVP_cfg=[];AOLVP_cfg.push({id:'AOLVP_74857696001','codever':0.1,'autoload':false,'autoplay':false,'displaymnads':true,'playerid':'89761511001','videoid':'74857696001','width':476,'height':357,'playertype':'inline','stillurl':'dynamic','videolink':'#','videotitle':'dynamic','videodesc':''});

More From TheBoombox