The Best Urban-Pop Albums of 2007: From Robin Thicke to Amy Winehouse

The year 2007 has been great for music. With the omnipresent message of album sales going down the tube and anti-piracy laws running rampant across the back of albums' back covers, there is a sense of desperation from the music industry. Because of the watered-down talent in the industry and the lack of originality and over-emphasis of sex, drugs and violence in the form of images over the actual form of musicianship, it seems that the consumers have suffered. But with artists breaking out, stepping up or in some instances, coming out of retirement, everyone seems to agree that much of the success and fanfare over the truly good music in 2007 has been a sigh of relief to some degree. Here's a look into the original and re-released albums that have made the year pleasantly good (through November 27).

Robin Thicke, The Evolution of Robin Thicke (Deluxe Edition 2007) Originally released in late 2006, Robin Thicke was able to capture the hearts of many a fan with songs like "Lost Without You" and "Can U Believe". While having toiled in the music business ever since he was 15 years old, writing songs for Usher and other R&B acts, Thicke was able to really come through on his second album, having written and produced the vast majority of The Evolution of Robin Thicke all by himself.

Common, Finding Forever Having sprung back from an eclectic departure on his Electric Circus with the 2005 release of Be, Common re-cemented himself as a living legend in hip hop music. With Finding Forever, Common was motivated by the death of famed hip hop producer and friend J Dilla and by the idea that great music seems to always live long past the careers of the artists who make it. With the b-boy sounds of "The Game", the earthly muses of "The People", a quasi-crossover hit with British singer Lily Allen with "Drivin' Me Wild" and the sensual love-lost tale of "I Want You", the rapper also known as Lonnie Rashid Lynn and producer Kanye West delivered what maybe Common's best and most complete body of work to date.

Amy Winehouse, Back To Black Released initially in the United Kingdom in late 2006, Amy Winehouse was eventually heard and celebrated when her album Back To Black finally made its way to the United States in the spring of 2007. Sporting a throwback sound that dates to Fifties and Sixties-style doo-wop music, Winehouse has established herself as a redefining voice in true soul music. With sob stories and defiant rejections of self-improvement in "Tears Dry On Their Own" and "No No No", the 24-year-old has chosen to wear her heart on his sleeves. Though potentially a classic album, the hope for more wonderful music depends greatly on whether she chooses the next Billie Holiday-a fellow legend of soul music from the past that eventually drunk and drugged her way to death at a relatively young age.

Kanye West, Graduation Though his ego has guaranteed that his name is a mainstay in gossip and music news, Kanye West ascended to the heights with his third album. Graduation, the third in a successive series of post-secondary-oriented albums sold nearly one million copies in the initial week of its release. The high-energy "Stronger" became the anthem of the summer, which was preceded by the dark, low-chord "You Can't Tell Me Nothing" and succeeded by the T-Pain-assisted feel-good song "Good Life". Citing a more techno-pop sound as the album's overtone, West has finally graduated into pop superstardom for his brilliant production and insightful lyrics.

Jay-Z, American Gangster Humbled and then embarrassed by his own self-imposed "retirement" from recording solo albums, enlightened by his return to music with Kingdom Come, and both initially inspired and dissuaded from recording an official motion picture soundtrack, Jay-Z sought to make music that was true to himself. Having made masterpiece hip hop albums in the past, Jay saw the opportunity to make American Gangster his own way of re-translating what rap music ought to be. While not a single-heavy album, Jay's made major noise with "Blue Magic" and "Roc Boys" being Gangster's main quick references. With the assistance of The Neptunes and acting under the production auspices of Diddy, Jay captured the grittiness and hard knock life stories that was characteristic of the American Gangster film's protagonist Frank Lucas (played by Denzel Washington).

Justin Timberlake, FutureSex/LoveSounds (Deluxe Edition 2007) Becoming the first solo artist since Michael Jackson to have six singles be in the Top 40 from the same album, Justin Timberlake came out of seclusion to hit the scene like no other artist outside of Kanye West could. Assisted mainly by hit producers Timbaland and Danja, Timberlake decided to bring "SexyBack" in an attempted to really rouse the emotions of worldwide music lovers. From fellow major hits in "Let Me Talk To You/My Love" and "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" to minor hit singles "Summer Love" and "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows", JT and Timbaland ruled the music world, shifting the thought of what is supposedly R&B music and infusing dance, techno, and funk into their vision of top-notch music product. With the souped-up edition of FutureSex making the rounds with the then-summer slow jam, now-remixed version of "Until The End Of Time" with Beyonce Knowles, Timberlake is still looking to finish 2007 off with a bang as loud as his album's arrival.