It’s time again for Barack Obama to share his summer playlist; As usual, it’s a mix of classic and modern hits. Catch the former president with headphones on, and you might hear him listening to cool kids like Puiginius, Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj, or respected legends like Leonard Cohen. You may also hear him listening to the song “Walk Like an Egyptian”.
You can scoff at Obama for including the latter track, but you can’t say The Bangles don’t make for some summer fun! Those good vibes continue with cuts like 2Pac’s “California Love” and Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” Elsewhere, slowing down is the 2023 playlist of Pearl Jam’s “Just Breathe” and Luke Combs’ “Fast Car,” Tracy Chapman’s 1988 song that recently charted higher than before thanks to an unexpected country cover.
Other tracks that prove Obama surprisingly on the pulse of contemporary culture include Kelela’s “Contact” and “Try Me” by Jorja Smith and Rosalía and Rauw Alejandro’s “Vampiros.” Looking back, the former boss also included cuts by The Pretenders, The Rolling Stones, and Janet Jackson, as well as an ode to the late pioneer Tina Turner with the inclusion of “River Deep – Mountain High.”
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It’s easy to cast doubt on whether or not Obama’s concert tours are being orchestrated by an outside team, and many have raised doubts before. Last year, however, Hassan Minaj insisted that he simply He is Cool enough to know who the boygenius is (and Ethel Cain, Wet Leg, SiR, and Scribz Riley before them). “You all [young people] I think you invented rock and roll. I invented hip-hop. And so the fact that my lists are, you know, unbelievable — people seem to think, well, he must have had a 20-year-old apprentice who was figuring out this latest version,” he said. “No man! It’s on the iPad now.”
Listen to Obama’s 2023 summer playlist below, then join us in giggling at the photo of the former president listening to “Princess Diana.”
As I do every year, here are some of the songs I’ve been listening to this summer – a mixture of old and new. I look forward to hearing what I missed. pic.twitter.com/H2Do2iaD1p
– Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 20, 2023
