Erykah Badu's album New Amerykah, Part One (4th World War) has been named the best album of 2008 by the Associated Press. AP says that Badu "returned to form" with New Amerykah, and that the album plays "like an eclectic, absorbing jam session."

Estelle's "Shine A Light" was second on the AP list, followed by Sia's Some People Have Real Problems. Shine A Light was called "a true reflection of Estelle -- gritty, funny and full of sass." Some People Have Real Problems is, according to AP, "morose, depressing and full of despair -- yet undeniably beautiful and captivating." Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak and Jazmine Sullivan's Fearless rounded out the Top Five, while Anthony Hamilton made the list at Number Eight for his The Point Of It All.

The Associated Press's Top Ten Albums of 2008:

New Amerykah, Part One (4th World War) -- Erykah Badu

Shine A Light -- Estelle

Some People Have Real Problems -- Sia

808s & Heartbreak -- Kanye West

Fearless -- Jazmine Sullivan

The Carter III -- Lil Wayne

Fearless -- Taylor Swift

The Point Of It All -- Anthony Hamilton

Evil Urges -- My Morning Jacket

EMC2 -- Mariah Carey

British songstress Leona Lewis has been named Billboard magazine's Top New Artist of 2008. Lewis earned the title based on the success of her hit single "Bleeding Love" and the selling strength of her debut album Spirit. The Billboard honor is the latest in a string of good news for Lewis -- she was nominated for three Grammy awards earlier this month and "Bleeding Love" was the best-selling digital single of 2008 with 3.2 million copies sold through iTunes.

How is Lewis dealing with all of her success? She told Billboard, "I'm just going day by day and just enjoying everything. I got a fantastic opportunity to come here and do this and so far it's been going really well."

American Idol winner Jordin Sparks, rapper Flo Rida, and singer Katy Perry were runners-up to Lewis for Billboard's Best New Artist honors.

Chris Brown has a busy year ahead. He's going to be hard at work on his new album, along with a handful of other projects and collaborations. According to Billboard.com, he's planning to do some work with his girlfriend Rihanna, revealing, "I actually have a couple of songs written already that would be dope collaborations between me and her. And I'm writing for her new album now."

He's also teaming with country star Tim McGraw on a song called "Human." He says, "It's incredible. I wanted to do something more along the country line. That's a bigger and different audience for me." He has also written tracks for the Jonas Brothers, Backstreets Boys and the Pussycat Dolls. There's no exact word on when Brown will release his upcoming album. He says, "Then I'm going to go away for a little while so people won't get tired of me. After that I'll come back and give them some bangers."

A gift given to Jennifer Hudson's sister Julia on her 31st birthday sparked the jealous rage that allegedly drove William Balfour to kill Hudson's mother, brother, and nephew this past October. According to People.com, Julia Hudson's estranged husband Balfour went to Hudson's Chicago home the morning after her small birthday party celebration and spotted a present he believed was given to her by a new boyfriend. Prosecutors believe that Balfour was so upset about the gift that he waited until Hudson left for work, shot her mother and brother, and kidnapped her son Julian King. Seven-year-old King was found dead in Balfour's SUV a couple of days later.

Balfour's attorneys say their client is innocent and is a convenient scapegoat for the murders because of his tumultuous relationship with Julia Hudson. Balfour is being held without bail and is charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

Jennifer Hudson has kept a low profile since the murders despite the success of her self-titled album.

The album debuted at Number Two on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Jamie Foxx is his best promoter and nowhere was that more evident than in Hollywood on Thursday (December 11th) at an invitation-only event to preview his new album Intuition. The guests at the party were mostly music industry types who heard the album blaring from the Green Door club's sound system as soon as they walked in the door. Foxx joined the crowd after doing some press interviews, and entertained them with jokes and anecdotes while offering a track-by-track explanation of the disc.

Foxx has said that Intuition has more up-tempo beats than his last effort Unpredictable, and collaborations with Timberland, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, and Kanye West seemed to back up that claim. The audience at the Intuition preview moved to the beats of singles like "Just Like Me" and "Number One," and showered Foxx with applause after he'd finished talking about the album.

"Just Like Me" debuted at Number 48 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Foxx's last album, Unpredictable, has sold 1.98 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.