Barack Obama‘s got a healthy mix of hip hop, country, R&B and techno house in his ears right now — the 43rd President’s 2024 summer playlist covers every corner of the music map.
Obama dropped his annual top song selection Monday, along with his summer reading list. Noticeably absent from his music list is the year’s biggest-selling tune — Kendrick Lamar‘s Drake-diss “Not Like Us.”
You don’t have to be a former commander-in-chief to know picking that song would spur a hip-hop political debate, but Obama still gave several rappers the spotlight — Megan Thee Stallion and GloRilla’s “Wanna Be,” Saweetie‘s “My Best,” and throwback cuts like Common‘s “The People” and 2Pac‘s “How Do U Want It” also made the cut.
Obama flexed his musical range, championing new country classics such as Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” and Moneybagg Yo and Morgan Wallen’s “Whiskey Whiskey.”
Latin trap smashes such as Bad Bunnyand Feid‘s “Perro Negro” and Chris Jedi‘s “Bad Boy” were also included … as were BO’s favored R&B offerings like Jill Scott‘s “Golden” and Tommy Richman‘s “Million Dollar Baby.”
As for his reading list, Obama trusted the pens of authors Percival Everett, Jonathan Blitzer, Lisa Ko and Adelle Waldman … recommending everyone give their books a read.
He recently cast his support for Kamala Harris to become the next President, but today, it’s all about endorsing pop culture!!!