Divorce - the musical

Some things go well together, like blue jeans and a white tee, S-curl and cut, and candlelight and a romantic dinner, SABC1 and '90s movies.

Other things taste better together. Imagine strawberries and cream, pap and steak, peanut butter and jam, white-liver spread and vetkoeks.

It can also be said that some people are not good together, think Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston, Blake Fielder-Civil and Amy Winehouse, Jub Jub and Kelly Khumalo, and Mandla Mthembu and Khanyi Mbau.

Others work wonders together - but can't stay together. And, when they are musicians, it's a little hard to accept the "It didn't work out" excuse. We are prompted to ask: what happened to "music conquers all", "music brings people together", "music solved all problems"?

When DJ Cleo and Pitch Black Afro got into the studio together, they made wonderful music. Khuli, Towdee and KG, of the hip-hop outfit Morafe, promised us at least three albums when they burst onto the music scene with their refreshing brand of hip-hip in Tswana, which they called motswako.

Who could forget the music of poet Natalie Stewart and singer Marsha Ambrosius, who made up the English neo-soul duo we used to know as Floetry?

This festive season would be a little dull without the sing-along, dance-until-the-sun-comes-down tunes of Master T and McKenzie we came to love as Rhythmic Elements.

Why are good music unions so hard to keep together?

Pitch Black Afro's debut album, Styling Gel, which was produced by DJ Cleo, not only introduced this stuttering entertainer to South African music lovers, but set the record as the biggest selling South African hip-hop album at the time.

Ladies quickly forgot his buck-teeth, oh-so-80s afro and not-so-handsome looks and loved him for his talent.

He said that, before he blew up, ladies wouldn't touch him because, they said, he stank.

When Afro released his follow-up album, Split Enz, in 2006, he had long parted ways with DJ Cleo. His lyrical prowess, sharp tongue and fast-paced rhyming, which gave Busta Rhymes a run for his money, were still there. But the DJ Cleo magic was missing. And many fans chose to listen to the album on the radio.

And Pitch Black Afro hasn't been able to recover from that split.

Don't get me started on the Floetry split.

When I heard that the two had parted ways, I wanted to smack them back to reality.

Stewart and Ambrosius brought us a blend of poetry and singing that made fans from all over the world fall in love with them.

Stewart's British accent when she rapped or recited warmed many hearts.

The two have gone on to release solo albums. As individuals they are hot - but together they sizzle.

What happened to "There's no problem big enough to stop people from creating good music"?

Morafe courted, wowed and left us smitten with their debut album Maru a Pula.

It had the perfect, winning formula, a smooth singer to knock our socks off, a bit of a rough neck for some street cred and a "cheese boy" to keep us all charmed when things got a little too hectic. The result was an album that was fun and that still sounds as fresh, even today.

Their sophomore album, A Ene: The Revelation, did not disappoint. We've been waiting for the third album to complete the trilogy they promised us when they introduced themselves.

Instead, Khuli Chana is flying solo and has released his debut album. Have we heard the last of Morafe?

Rhythmic Elements died when they announced that they had gone their separate ways.

Aristotle put it succinctly when he said: "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

What Stewart and Ambrosius accomplished working together is more than they could pull off as individuals.

When DJ Cleo's strength as a producer and Afro's skill as a rapper were put together they produced something more than they could accomplish on their own.