“It’s always sad when things like this end, and we remain friends,” Phifer tells PEOPLE. “I wish him the best in his future and all of his endeavors. He’s one of the most talented people I’ve ever met.”

Phifer was spotted on the red carpet sans her engagement ring at an “Evenings in Vogue” event on Thursday night in New York, where her clothing line, Ghita, was featured.

“They’d been having problems,” a pal of West’s says. “Kanye is really focused on his show; he’s putting everything into the show right now. Alexis is a nice girl, but Kanye has been going through a rough time. They hit a rough patch and for now they’ve split.”

According to the friend, Phifer and West, both 30, had been spending less time together in the last few weeks as the Grammy-winning star prepared for his nationwide “Glow in the Dark” tour. “I haven’t seen [Alexis] around at all the last few times I’ve seen him recently,” the friend added.

Having dropped the light mid-tempo in the form of ‘Touch My Body’ and now the ballad ‘Bye Bye’, the most logical move IMO would be to release club banger ‘Migrate’ next. Granted there’s a strong likelihood that the track will at some point receive the single treatment (according to Mariah), delaying what will inevitably be a hit, especially in favour of ‘Love Story’ doesn’t make much sense to me.

Former ‘Princess of The Roc’ Teairra Mari is currently prepping her Interscope debut for a summer 2008 release. In the meanwhile, the album’s first single ‘No No No’ has surfaced (via YBF). Though hardly groundbreaking, I’m liking this. The gritty hard-hitting production, as well Teairra’s flow make for a real solid track; her runs toward the end really highlight her growth vocally. Good stuff.

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While rapper Nas continues to prep his controversial LP ‘N*gger’ for release on July 1st, a cut from the much-anticipated set has surfaced. ‘Be A N*gger Too’ serves as the first indicator as to what to expect from the album. I know what I’m thinking about this all, but I’m real interested in hearing your take on the song/album’s concept etc.