By Jawn Murray, BlackVoices.com
I broke news April 18 -- during my segment on the nationally syndicated 'Tom Joyner Morning Show' -- that rapper Kanye West and his fiancé Alexis Phifer have called it quits.
Sources close to the hip-hop star tell me that it was West who ended the engagement after revealing to Phifer: "I just don't think it is going to work out anymore."
The 30-year-old entertainer even asked for his ring back!
The often-controversial rapper/producer got engaged to Phifer while overseas in the fall of 2006.
The two met when Phifer worked as the assistant to West's fulltime wardrobe stylist.
A graduate from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) in
Sources close to the couple claim she was also helping West develop his forthcoming Pastelle clothing line.
The Chicago-raised rapper had been dating Phifer on and off since 2002. 
The couple broke up in 2004 and he began dating an executive assistant at MTV named Brooke Crittendon.
He and Crittendon allegedly split after she posted a letter about their whirlwind romance on MySpace, a claim she denied in an interview with the now defunct Vibe Vixen magazine.
Crittenden also once told the New York Daily News: "I don't think we've ever been apart longer than seven days. I trust him. He's got so much going on, but he never makes me feel like number two."
Maybe there's now hope for a reconciliation with the 26-year-old Crittendon, now a producer at MTV, and West since he has ended his courtship with fiancé Phifer.
A request to West's rep for comment had not been answered at press time.
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UPDATED: So US Weekly did a pickup on this on their website with the following headline: "EXCLUSIVE: Kanye West, Alexis Phifer Split."
How could a story I broke on April 18 be "exclusive" to Us Weekly on April 21?
It aint!
So next week, I am going to rehash a few of the stories from US Weekly, repackage them with a not-so-fresh spin on them and call them "exclusive" too!
1. WHO REALLY BELIEVES KANYE LIKES WOMEN. KANYE IS A DOWNLOW BROTHER AND I CAN'T STAND HIM. WHAT MAN IS THAT COCKY AND LIKES WOMEN.
OH PLEASE at 4:56PM on Apr 18th 2008