The former fiancée of rapper Kanye West, designer Alexis Phifer, talked about the couple's recent split after being together on and off since 2002.  

According to Usmagazine.com, where the news was reported initially, Kanye and Phifer decided to go their separate ways amid intense preparations for Kanye's upcoming tour, which apparently claimed his full and undivided attention.

"Kanye is possessed by the tour and everything going on and just couldn't keep it going. They are still friends and have broken up and gotten back together before, so it could work out," a source told Usmagazine.com, adding that the two had marriage plans as a tribute to the rapper's late mother, Donda West, who urged the couple, to make it official.

"I’m just going to go and get married," Kanye had told GQ last year. "I’m not going to make a big deal out of it."

However, things took a different turn, and "It's always sad when things like this end, and we remain friends," Phifer confessed to People.com, confirming the breakup reports. "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."

The couple, who had gone through some rough patches in the past, announced their engagement in 2006 and intended to tie the knot last year during the winter holidays before Kanye's mother suddenly died in November from complications caused by plastic surgery.  

"Alexis still doesn't really know what happened. It's like she lost her best friend too. Things may change one day. He embraced her son and supported her business and her with all his heart. It's just a rough time right now," a source close to the couple said.

Phifer was spotted recently without her engagement ring at an "Evenings in Vogue" event in New York, where her clothing line, Ghita, was featured.

"They'd been having problems," a friend of Kanye's said. "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."

Kanye's "Glow in the Dark" tour, which also features Rihanna, Lupe Fiasco and N.E.R.D., began April 16 and will end on May 16. The concert schedule is made of gigs all over the country, including Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in Houston on May 2 to Madison Square Garden in New York on May 13.