Wednesday morning on the Today Show proved to be a spirited one for hosts Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Craig Melvin, Al Roker, and Sheinelle Jones.
Sheinelle, who was filling in for Carson Daly on PopStart as he anchored the season finale of The Voice, took the reins to share a new update from Apple Music.
The show exclusively revealed Apple's list for their top ten best albums of all time, with the entire list published on their site and the top 20 revealed on the air.
Prior to the announcement, some of the hosts threw around their own guesses, with Craig hoping for something from Michael Jackson or The Beatles, Savannah betting on U2's The Joshua Tree, and Hoda banking on Rumours by Fleetwood Mac.
Rumours eventually made it to number 11, satisfying Hoda, but when Sheinelle shared the top ten, the co-hosts quickly broke out into disagreements.
While the general consensus was positive for some of the entries, including Amy Winehouse's Back to Black, Beyoncé's Lemonade, and Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life, it was Frank Ocean's 2016 record Blonde that sparked debate.
© NBCAs soon as Sheinelle revealed it was at number five, Craig immediately started exclaiming "What?!" multiple times, and Al responded: "I'm sorry, but no," as their two other co-anchors giggled. Sheinelle tried to defend the experimental pop-R&B record by asserting they "read the lyrics."
It died down a bit when she revealed that Apple Music had named Lauryn Hill's groundbreaking 1998 record The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill their number one, and Craig joked: "The album was so good, she never made another one!"
© NBCThey reasoned that the list might have been created in a way to spark "conversation at the watercooler all over the country," but Craig couldn't let Blonde's high placement go. "Frank Ocean? Great album! [Fifth] best of all time?!"
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Savannah, upset that her pick didn't make it, asked about The Joshua Tree, and once she was told it placed at 49, she threw up her hands in surrender. "I can't fix my face now!" They joked that it was as if Sheinelle herself compiled the list, and Savannah quipped: "We've got Bono on line one!"
© Getty ImagesLauryn, for her part, was moved by the honor of being on the list, and per a press release from Apple Music, she shared: "This is my award, but it's a rich, deep narrative, and involves so many people, and so much sacrifice, and so much time, and so much collective love."
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Of the album, which won a then record five Grammy Awards, the Apple release dubbed the LP a "seismic event," stating: "[Lauryn] was, and remains, a once-in-a-generation talent whose inspiration and innovation can be heard through the decades."
"Artists exhaust long discographies hoping for a cohesive piece of work resonant enough to reshape culture and inscribe its creator into the pantheon; Lauryn Hill did it in one." Other artists like Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Adele, Madonna, Robyn, and more earned their spots on the list as well.
