As has become an annual tradition, former President of the United States Barack Obama has dropped a playlist filled with songs that he’s been playing over the summer season.
This year’s summer playlist features a mix of contemporary tunes and classic jams. On the newer side is personal Obama family friend Beyoncé and her most recent single ‘Break My Soul’, along with pop sensation Harry Styles’ opening track to his recent LP Harry’s House, ‘Music for a Sushi Restaurant’. Evidently, Barack has been watching a lot of Apple commercials.
Also on the modern side are Bad Bunny’s ‘Ojitos Lindos’, Wet Leg’s ‘Angelica’, Burna Boy’s ‘Last Last’, and Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Die Hard’. Obama tends to use these playlists as platforms to show off his diverse intake of music (or at least what his staffers inform him are some of the popular songs and artists of the day. No offence, Mr President.)
It’s when he goes old-school that the real Obama starts to come to the fore. I can absolutely believe that the former president is currently bopping Aretha Franklin, Prince, Otis Redding, and Al Green. The man has literally sung ‘Let’s Stay Together’ before, even though he opted for another soul jam from Green, ‘I Can’t Get Next To You’, for this playlist.
President Obama also gets a little loopy with some of his older choices. Most notably, he seems to be a fan of the wonky and jazzy time signatures of Dave Brubeck’s classic ‘Take Five’. Obama also gives shoutouts to Joe Cocker’s version of Traffic’s ‘Feelin’ Alright’, Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Dancing in the Dark’, D’Angelo’s smooth as hell ‘Spanish Joint’, Jack White’s Blunderbuss jam ‘I’m Shakin’ and, weirdly enough, Fatboy Slim’s ‘Praise You’.
All told, it’s another diverse and eclectic playlist from the former President. More often than not, his summer playlists are a little too chalky and a little too unbelievable (I’ll give $1,000 to anyone who can prove that Barack listened to Maren Morris or Lyle Lovitt anytime in the past five decades), but they’re a fun tradition that Obama keeps gifting the public with year after year. You know, like a good public servant should.
Check out Barack Obama’s full 2022 summer playlist down below.