As an artist, finding a producer who can bring out the best in your voice and arrange hit records is hard. And for those lucky few who do, staying together can be even harder. For the artists on this list, we loved the music they made with their producers, but just like divorces in real life—some we hated to see separate, while others were clearly for the best.

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Brandy and Rodney Jerkins

Although Rodney Jerkins didn’t begin working with Brandy until her second album “Never Say Never,” the musical match helped boost her into super-stardom. Together they made a unique sound and we all loved it. With hits like “The Boy is Mine,” “What About Us?” and “Almost Doesn’t Count,” the duo was on a roll. So, we were all surprised when the two went their separate ways after the success of the “Full Moon” album.

On Brandy’s fourth studio album, “Aphrodisiac,” Jerkins did not produce one song; instead she turned to producer Timberland to create the majority of the CD. The album had little success, and she returned to Jerkins and the Darkchild crew to produce her fifth studio album “Human,” but it was too late, the musical magic was long gone between the two. The reason they parted ways in the first place is still a bit unclear, but tension remains high between the two judging by the brief run of Brandy’s family reality show when they had dinner together.

Source: YouTube.com

Personally, I’m surprised to see that Prince is allowing his new video to be posted online. You know how he feels about the internets. (He said he thinks it’s just a fad.) Well, his new song, “Rock and Roll Love Affair,” has a video and thankfully, someone convinced the Purple One it needed to be uploaded. True story, if it had been left up to the networks, where would we see it? On 106 & Park (LOL, I kid.) Maybe Vh1 Soul? Either way, now that’s on the internet, it can get the exposure it deserves.

So check out the official video below. And be sure to take note of Prince’s natural do. This is a big step for a man who at least stayed with a serious press and curl.

Yaasss! If you ask me, the man’s still got it. Isn’t it nice to hear real instruments in a song? What I appreciate about Prince as an artist is that though he’s clearly grown, evolved and even experimented, his music is still consistent to his iconic brand. I’m digging this song. What do you think about it?

A big part of the celebrity world is who’s dating who and while we love knowing the latest flings in Hollywood, let’s go a little bit deeper. After looking at popular celebs, it’s clear that some of them tend to date certain types of people. Here are 15 celebrities who have a specific type.

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Prince

Prince seems to be attracted to ethnically ambiguous women. Manuela Testolini, Mayte Garcia, and Sheila E. are all hard to look at and determine their true ethnicity.

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If you want to talk about a “terrible” movie that got the most love ever, you have to be talking about Purple Rain. With only three professional actors in the entire film, this movie became a cult classic because of the big name artists associated with it, the extraordinary music featured in it and the fact that it gave us a glimpse into the ultimate mystery man’s “life.” You’ve rocked out to all the songs, you might have even memorized a poorly delivered line or two, but we bet you don’t know these behind the scenes secrets. Check them out.

Fans are known to make outlandish claims defending the supremacy of their chosen idol. When debates get heated and tempers flair, it’s time to face the facts. As the song goes, “Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t.”

Album sales don’t come as easily as they used to. Purchasing an album is a commitment only the best artists can persuade audiences to make. Compiled below are the best selling black artists in Pop/R&B and Hip-Hop, as tallied by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). How does your favorite measure up to the best?

At the Billboard Music Awards in 1995. Image: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

Hip-Hop #5 – Notorious B.I.G.

17 million units

A gift for storytelling and a penchant for humorous, violently detailed narratives of Brooklyn street life launched the Notorious B.I.G. to stardom and paved the way for the return of East Coast rapper after the Dr. Dre era. His untimely death in 1997 raised his impact to mythic proportions.

From ex-wives to ex-girlfriends and former mistresses as well as cuddle buddies, these women were constant arm candy for some of music’s biggest stars (oh, and one NBA baller I couldn’t keep out). Some got a ring and went through the most with their men, others just had a good ‘ol time with some high profile people, and well, some had their lives flipped upside down. They were seen everywhere with them at events–and then they weren’t. Where are they now?

The former stylist and model, and of course, daughter of Quincy Jones was allegedly engaged to Tupac before he passed away. Clearly cut from a different cloth than her sister, actress Rashida Jones, Kidada was besties with Aaliyah and was known for helping Tommy Hilfiger’s line of clothing become a must in urban wear. Anywho, after Shakur’s death, during a time of grief, Jones went ahead and got a tattoo of him on her arm. Today though, it has been covered. These days, Kidada is back focused on styling and designing, as she was the force behind Disney Couture and the extension, Kidada for Disney Couture.

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Source: Essence

One of the best things about celebrity crushes is that no matter what their relationship status may be, they can always stay in our hearts. Known for their bachelor titles, these A-listers are a hot commodity on and off the big screen and stage. Many of these Hollywood A-listers and singers may be off the market sometimes, but never for long, adding them as a mainstay to our Hollywood bachelor’s list.

They’ll “sexify” you for sure. Here are 15 black male celebrities who might be lifelong ‘little black book’ holders…

The MTV VMAs air tonight to celebrate the music videos they hardly ever play and hopefully bring about some yearly controversy. The show promises to be an over the top spectacle just as in years past, with alleged drama to come as MTV has practically been trying to get Chris Brown, Rihanna and Drake to sit next to each other. Never a dull moment with these awards, eh? If you don’t believe me, here are a few water cooler moments that left an impression (good or bad, that’s up to you) on the audience and those at home.

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Michael Jackson at the ’95 MTV VMAs
In 1995, the King of Pop opened the show. With backing from Slash, he performed for more than 10-minutes, and pumped out a medley of his greatest hits such as “Billie Jean,” “Dangerous,” “Beat It,” “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” and “Black or White.” Once again, he showed why there was everyone else and why there was just one Michael Jackson by putting on a mini concert. His night continued with wins in Best Dance Video, Best Art Direction and Best Choreography for “Scream,” his duet with sister, Janet.

Now that Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler have chucked the deuces to “American Idol,” the conversation has been over who will be the new judges following their exits. Randy Jackson is even rumored to be ready to back away from his current position, so that leaves a lot of space for popular new-school and old-school talents to step in. Aretha Franklin has already put her name into consideration to sit in one of the judge’s chairs, but who else would be great? Here are 10 other talents to help bring the show back to its former glory. Or at the very least, keep it interesting.

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Rihanna
RiRi will never be the vocalist of our time, but she has that “X Factor” that connects her to fans. In an era where image is more valued than substance, Rihanna can give a few pointers on how to be a media darling and keep the public interested. In 2005, the ink was overflowing with premature obits that her career wouldn’t sustain because she didn’t have the talent to back up her hype. It’s 2012 and Rihanna is still at the top of the charts and Forbes just listed her as the 3rd highest grossing celebrity under 30 with a haul of $53 million while stronger singers are in search of relevance and commercial success. Love or hate her, Rihanna’s built a brand for herself and it’s not as if she’s just gonna sit there with a smirk on her face. If her Twitter feed is any indication, she can talk that talk.

While jamming to your favorite songs, do you ever wonder about who wrote your favorite tune? Okay, probably not. But it’s still cool to see who helped put some of today’s major hits together, and most of the time, it’s  people who you didn’t expect. We started looking into the names behind some popular tracks back in March, and now we’ve compiled a few more. Here’s a list of some major songs by major artists that were created with a little help from their famous (or at the time, soon-to-be-famous) friends.

Graphic by Desire

“Baby” Justin Bieber feat. Ludacris (2009)

The-Dream/Tricky Stewart/Christina Milian

The song that threw Bieber into pop’s stratosphere, and was his highest charting single until 2012′s “Boyfriend,” was put together by former lovers The-Dream and Christina Milian and Dream’s writing partner Tricky Stewart (who has penned songs for Beyoncé, Rihanna, and more). The Dream claims that Milian only helped with the melody of the song- but there’s no way you can just get a royalty check and credits off a melody right? If so, then I stand corrected. Either way, it’s the jam folks of all backgrounds and ages can’t help but sing to, and it’s the song that pretty much made Bieber a household name.