Kanye West and fiancée call it quits after a year and a half.

"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."

"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. [Source]

On the brighter side of things, Kanye is teaming up with Nike to release a new sneaker called the "Air Yeezy." I saw him wearing these during the Glow InTthe Dark Tour and they were sick! They really did glow at the bottom too. There is no set date for the release of them yet, but if they are reasonably priced, I might have to look into getting these. Click here to check them out. [Source]



Aaron Fields writes for KSTW-TV in Seattle. All opinions expressed in this column are his.