Ya Heard: Does hip-hop divorce mirror today's marriage values?

"The curse which lies upon marriage is that too often the individuals are joined in their weakness rather than in their strength -- each asking from the other instead of finding pleasure in giving."

Nas and Kelis are the latest celebrity couple to watch their marriage head toward divorce court. The couple is expecting its first child together this summer. The pregnant Kelis filed for divorce from Nas last month in New York. Reports have speculated on everything from a rumored sex tape involving Kelis with another man to Nas having an alleged affair with another woman as the cause of the split.

The news is a bit depressing. Fans were quite happy to learn of the couple's 2005 union. The conscious, introspective emcee marrying the free-spirited, wild-haired R&B star seemed to make perfect sense. In the promiscuous, playa-filled world of hip-hop, the emcee appeared to take great pride in being a married man, as he often touched on the subject in tracks such as "Getting Married" and "Remember the Times."

This high profile divorce comes at a time when many young adults are asking themselves "does marriage really work?" It is becoming very clear people are somewhat more reluctant to marry these days than in the past. Before it was a simple and expected part of life to graduate college, find a good job, get married and begin a family. Today's popular culture is a little more like maybe graduate college, find a good job, begin a family and maybe get married. Many studies suggest more than 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. That statistic is nothing new, but is it possible we are witnessing the end of the sanctity of marriage?

Maybe we can blame it on the way it is becoming less a "man's world" and more an equal-opportunity world, where a woman is as capable of providing for a family as a man. Maybe that equality breeds competition among the sexes as never before? Maybe we're all brainwashed from childhood Disney movies, and are waiting for our Jasmine or Prince Charming to fall into our lives? Or maybe we just have too many options?

Let's face it, we are a generation completely based on instant gratification. We don't even have to wait until we get home to make a call anymore. Fast food, fast Internet, and fast love...that's what most of us are about these days. We are literally connected to the entire world and I believe all of the luxuries afforded to us have clouded our judgment when it comes to building strong, lasting, romantic relationships. The Internet has opened up the world to us and in doing so has opened the possibility to an enormous amount of potential soul and/or sexual partners. Not many people are quick to make up their mind and commit to making a relationship work. We can run through relationships just as fast as we run through a bag of ice. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is. It's no longer the way it was when our parents fell in love and decided to make that ultimate and all encompassing commitment to one another.

The watering down of relationships and love undoubtedly plays a role in all this. Sitcoms like "Flavor of Love," "I Love New York" and countless other reality shows have done some significant damage to the impressionable mind in matters of love. Whatever the reasons, one thing is for sure: we are further away from knowing what love is than any other generation before us…'Til next week, Peace!!!

Dennis Winn can be reached at 703-200-4928 or YaHeard40@gmail.com.