Tahiry Jose Interview
"Who the hell is Tahiry?"
We'll bet our stimulus check that the universal knee-jerk reaction to Tahiry Jose on KING's cover sounded something like that. It's not our fault that the unsavvy don't surf the Internets. Better late to the party than never, though. Thanks to her boyfriend, rapper Joe Budden (of 2003's "Pump It Up" fame), and joebuddentv.com, the 20-something Dominican firecracker has found notoriety mainly for her Latin sass and huge personality.
Although each episode isn't solely dedicated to Tahiry (by the time you read this, tahirytv.com will be up and running, where every episode is about her), fans are logging on in hopes of seeing the Harlem native getting dressed in the bathroom for her bartending gig, getting dolled up for one of Budden's videos, or jumping on a trampoline in an outfit that would make Jane Fonda blush. Sparing us any feelings of dirty guilt, Tahiry relishes all the attention. Otherwise, this level of voyeurism would earn us a spot on Maury.
How did you two crazy kids meet?
This is my side of the story, by the way. We met at a club on a boring Sunday. Joey strategized the whole night, watching me turn down a bunch of guys. He sent his friend over to talk to one of my friends. That didn't work, and then he went up to my friend and started talking her. So, he invited us to breakfast and he started talking to me. I made it clear I wasn't interested, and I thought it was uncool that he was talking to my friend and now he's talking to me.
Scandalous.
But that was all a part of his strategy. Days later when we continued to hand, we went bowling and he was really touchy-feely, and it felt good. It was kind of like, "Oh, shit, this is happening?" [Laughs]
Sounds like an urban love story starring Sanaa Lathan and Taye Diggs. How long have you guys been together?
In August, Joey and I will have been together for five years.
Oh, so you're not some fly-by-night chica.
Yeah, people also think that I'm not his girlfriend, which is funny to me.
Considering you used to date Fabolous, you can understand why people would think you only deal with rappers.
Well, you know that everything you hear is not always true. I did date Fabolous before he was Fab. He was John [Jackson]. We dated off and on for a couple of years, but that was it. I do know that they see me in a different light because I dated a rapper before Joey. But that's the only truth to what people are saying.
What's it like dating Mr. Jumpoff?
It's been great! There hasn't been a dull moment in my household. It's still fresh, like it just happened yesterday. And we're spontaneous, the sex is great, everything is just great.
Great! How did you become a burgeoning Internet celeb?
I was in bed sick on the first episode, sheets over my head. It was really late, and Joey was filming. I pull my head from under the sheets and I see he's recording. The next morning he said he was going to post this. He posted it up, and it just happened to get thousands of hits. We had no idea the attention it would get. This was just a joke.
There are plenty of episodes without me. It's not like we sit around and plan. We're just living our lives day to day.
Don't get off topic, woman. Bathroom episode. Go.
I had somebody who was starstruck, refer to that episode. I've had people hyperventilate [when they see me] at the bar. I've had girls come up and tell me they love what I'm doing. Almost every night I get three to five people recognize me or walk around with their iPhones with the clip up asking me if that's me. It's quite unexpected, cause this started off as a ---
A joke, we know. But are you sure it doesn't have anything to do with that Mack truck you're carrying back there?
[Laughs] It's both. I've gotten the attention forever because it's forever been my butt, but now it's multiplied. It's over the top.
What about those who question if your posterior is 100 percent real? It that over the top?
My ass is 100 percent natural. I feel like I have to walk around with my mother's picture and show people that people are born with asses like this.
Can we get a look at that picture? For verification, of course!
More power to [the girls who have fake butts]. If I didn't have an ass, I'd get butt shots. In the beginning it didn't bother me when people would ask if it's fake, but now, three years later, it's becoming upsetting. People really do have real asses like mine, and no, I didn't pay for it. When I was called for this shoot with KING, I was in the gym making sure my butt was tight.
Thanks for the dedication. This is your cherry-popping shoot, too. How did you like your first time? We tried to be gentle.
It's a lot of hard work, but I loved it. It was awesome and I'll do it again and again.
You think Joey will be jealous of the jail mail you'll start to receive?
Joey is very secure; I'm the jealous one. I love my man and he's all mine.
How crazy do you get? You are Dominican.
[Laughs] We're passionate. It's not craziness; it's passion. This one time, we were arguing back and forth. He was out in Virginia somewhere. Somebody hit me telling me Joey hooked up with someone. So I called him and started flipping out on the phone. He hangs up and doesn't pick up my phone calls. I texted him warning him I would catch a flight to Virginia. He didn't believe me. This was around 6PM. By 10:30PM I was in Virginia. He was amazed.
So are we.
He called me crazy for the first 45 minutes and then we had fun.
Well, makeup sex is always rousing entertainment.
Oh yeah. We moved furniture that night [laughs].
Story by Sean A. Malcolm
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