1. Know what you want out of the situation in and be honest. No one demonstrates this better than Musiq Soulchild, but not just on one track, he gives you two. On his very first single, Just Friends, he takes the nice guy approach of just kickin it with a nice shawty and letting it flow from there. If that’s not the way you wanna go, check out one of his more recent joints B.U.D.D.Y. an anthem about the beauty of being friends with benefits.

2. Ladies this one’s for you: keep it real with your heart, and don’t play us with the rebound game. The #2 joint on this week’s countdown is Danity Kane with Damaged. Although the topic makes for a nice song, emotional baggage isn’t cool at all. If you need someone to fix it, maybe you need Jesus. And besides, keepin’ it real upfront causes less stress down the road.

3. A lot of fellas meet the nice lookin chick and think they’re willing to take on any challenge for her. That is, until her 15 year old son shows up and he’s taller than you. That’s why comin in at #3 is Lyfe Jennings with She Got Kids. On the real, kids are an important part to any person’s life, man or woman. If you can’t handle that you probably don’t wanna date someone with kids.

4. The #1 reason relationships dissolve is lack of communication. The #2 reason is too much communication – from outside forces. Up at #4 is Brandy and Kanye West with Talk About Our Love. A good way to keep your relationship in perspective is to keep everyone else OUT.

5. Fellas and ladies, if your significant other has an unusual amount of contact with the one before you, it might be a sign. The #5 joint is Mya with Case of the Ex. Mya was onto something here; if the ex is too close, you might need to move on to the next. Midnight phone calls, text messages and unexpected cameos from the ex could end up turning you into the next ex.

6. Fellas don’t fool yourself: if she left him for you, she’d leave you for the next man. #6 is an artist who needs a search party to dig him out of his retirement: Ginuwine with What’s So Different? Keep it in perspective and ask yourself, what’s really so different? The answers may shock you…

7. If this song hits home for you, it might be time to pick up and move. The #7 jam is from a woman who could write a book on keeping relationships in perspective – and that’s because she’s in one of the most successful celebrity marriages of our time. It’s none other than Tamia’s smash single Stranger In My House. This song highlights trust issues, which is yet another reason for the failure of relationships. When the trust is gone, you’re just slow dancing in a burning room.