Barack Obama Shares Personal 20-Track Playlist
From Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” to Jay-Z’s “My 1st Song.”
Barack Obama has just revealed his latest Spotify playlist. The former president has been sharing Summer playlists surprisingly filled with contemporary music from artists — Frank Ocean, Outkast and J. Cole, to mention a few — like the one from back in August, but the new compilation is a special selection of tracks that he treasured most during his time in the White House.
Obama is sharing the playlist in honor of his new book A Promised Land. “Music has always played an important role throughout my life—and that was especially true during my presidency,” wrote Obama in a Facebook post showing a screenshot of the playlist. It’s 20-tracks long and features an eclectic range of music of various genres and eras — from Eminem‘s “Lose Yourself” to B.B. King‘s “The Thrill Is Gone” to Fleetwood Mac‘s “Rhiannon.”
In the same Facebook post, Obama described some of his encounters with the artists on the playlist in the White House. “While reviewing my notes ahead of debates, I’d listen to Jay-Z’s ‘My 1st Song’ or Frank Sinatra’s ‘Luck Be a Lady’. Throughout our time in the White House, Michelle and I invited artists like Stevie Wonder and Gloria Estefan to conduct afternoon workshops with young people before performing an evening show in the East Room,” notes Obama. “And there were all sorts of performances I’ll always remember—like Beyoncé performing ‘At Last’ for our first dance at our inauguration, Paul McCartney serenading Michelle in the East Room with ‘Michelle’ and Bob Dylan flashing me a grin before vanishing after his performance of ‘Times They Are a-Changin’. So in honor of my book coming out tomorrow, I thought I’d put together a playlist with some of those songs. Hope you enjoy it.”
In case you missed it, Boudica hosted a free music conference in hopes of inspiring women and non-binary people to get into music.
Music has always played an important role in my life—and that was especially true during my presidency. In honor of my book hitting shelves tomorrow, I put together this playlist featuring some memorable songs from my administration. Hope you enjoy it. pic.twitter.com/xWiNQiZzN0
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 16, 2020
