Apple Music charts | The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill named best album of all time

(Los Angeles) Let the debate begin. Who released the best album of all time? Apple Music offered its list.

The online music listening giant presented its list of the ten best albums of all time on Wednesday and it is the emblematic The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, by Lauryn Hill, released in 1998, which sits in first place. Hill’s debut album surpassed other classic albums by Beyoncé, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Kendrick Lamar, Amy Winehouse, Frank Ocean and Nirvana.

“It’s my price, but it’s a rich and deep story, involving so many people, so much sacrifice, so much time and so much collective love,” Hill said after hearing the news.

Apple Music announced its top 100 albums in a 10-day countdown last week. There are only five artists with two albums on the full list, including The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Radiohead and Beyoncé.

The process began several months ago when Apple Music’s editorial team of editors and music experts including Zane Lowe and Ebro Darden generated a list of candidates from the past 65 years.

“This list is not a popularity contest,” Mr. Darden said. We challenged everyone not to vote based on their favorites. You’re invited to the panel because you have musical knowledge beyond what you listen to when you’re on the elliptical machine. »

Members of Apple Music’s internal team submitted their personal album lists to the company’s voting microsite. Votes were weighted based on album placement: the higher the ranking, the more votes awarded.

Apple Music used the same voting methodology for a select group of external voters including artists, songwriters, producers and select media outlets.

Apple Music’s Top Ten Albums List

1. Lauryn Hill, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)

Darden: “We really lean into what she did on this album. The writing, what she shared, what was happening in her life and which she was able to put into music. The fact that she had just become a mother. All that R&B vibe. Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway as well as Nothing Even Matters, D’Angelo. Social commentary in Doo Wop (That Thing). It’s hip-hop. It’s R&B. And there’s also a dancehall side to it. She’s a powerful woman who’s independent and she’s like, “Yo, I got something to say.” Oh and by the way, the son she sings about on the album is Bob Marley’s grandson… That ticks so many boxes. »

2. Michael Jackson, Thriller (1982)

Lowe : « C’est le plus grand album à succès de tous les temps. Je pense que tous ceux à qui j’ai parlé de cette liste supposent automatiquement qu’il sera numéro un. C’est parce que nous avons passé décennie après décennie à le voir essentiellement numéro un. Il est sorti à une époque où la musique était en première place du divertissement dans le monde. Les gens attendaient encore plus ce disque de Michael Jackson que d’aller voir un film. Thriller est un disque incroyable. Tout est réglé. Mais ça ne m’a pas dérangé que Lauryn soit numéro un et Thriller numéro deux. »

3. The Beatles, Abbey Road (1969)

Darden : « Abbey Road s’offre une nouvelle vie dans l’espace des médias sociaux avec TikTok. C’est peut-être pour cela qu’il a atterri si haut. Quand vous allez d’une chanson à l’autre sur Abbey Road, je pense que cela représente musicalement un moment heureux pour les Beatles. Cela ressemble beaucoup plus aux Beatles bruts qu’aux Beatles pop. »

4. Prince and the Revolution, Purple Rain (1984)

Darden : « J’adore le fait que ce soit un artiste noir qui fasse des disques rock et pop émouvants. J’ai adoré le film. Ce sont des souvenirs phénoménaux. Ce n’est pas mon album préféré de Prince. Je suis plutôt Sign O’The Times. Danse, musique, romance sexuelle. Je suis un grand amateur de Prince, donc je suis heureux qu’il ait obtenu des votes. Je pense que Purple Rain perdure [de manière emblématique]. »

5. Frank Ocean, blond (2016)

Lowe: “I classified [cet album] above five. I simply love this album. I feel like Frank is like Prince. He’s like Michael. He’s like Lauryn. He’s like Marvin [Gaye]. He’s like Radiohead. He is one of the great misfits who found a huge place in our hearts. They don’t make music to appeal to a large audience, and yet somehow the music they make reaches us. blond didn’t reach certain sales goals unlike some of the bigger albums on this list. But every time I put it on, it moves me differently. »

6. Stevie Wonder, Songs in the Key of Life (1976)

Lowe: “It starts with a message and ends with time to digest everything that happened in between. Ultimately, it finally gives you a moment to take everything you just listened to and absorb it. He channeled something major. »

7. Kendrick Lamar, good kid, mr. AA d city (2012)

Darden: “I’m glad this one came in so high. It was his first album. He wrote an audio film about his neighborhood and being a reluctant kid surrounded by all this toxicity, this chaos. He’s trying to get out of it. He created opportunities for him and his friends to survive. »

8. Amy Winehouse, Back to Black (2006)

Lowe: “ [L’album] is about heartbreak, rejection, unrequited love, and the pain you feel when you have feelings for someone who doesn’t have the same feelings in return. You don’t know what to do with this emotion. It’s very human. If we all live long enough, we are going to experience some real heartache in our lives. This album took that experience and made us sing, dance and move. It’s one of the finest albums about heartbreak ever recorded. It’s an incredible magic trick. »

9.Nirvana, Nevermind (1991)

Lowe: “It was a combination of real talent, magnificent instinct, total courage and vulnerability. He dealt skillfully with what [Kurt Cobain] felt and dressed it in a way that made people want to dance, jump, sing and scream. But if you really listen, as tens of millions of people have, it’s deeper than that. And we got it. This album allowed me for the first time to sit down and have a conversation about anxiety and depression with my mother, my brother, and my friends. If he could write about it, why couldn’t I write about it? »

10. Beyoncé, Lemonade (2016)

Darden: “This was the first time we saw Beyoncé’s personal life. Her sister had just hit her husband in an elevator, and everyone was on their business […] I like Lemonadebut it’s not my favorite Beyoncé album. Renaissance is one of my favorite Beyoncé albums. But if you lived this moment Lemonade, it was a big deal. »