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Personal Illinois State Senator and U.S. Senator from Illinois 44th President of the United States Tenure
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Barack Obama's summer playlist is an annualplaylist curated by formerPresident of the United StatesBarack Obama. The president has shared a playlist, curated by himself, most summers since 2015. The lists consist of a mix of classic and contemporary songs spanning a variety of genres. The response to the playlists has been mostly positive, though with some noted detractors.
Barack Obama shared his first summer playlists in August 2015, while he and his family were on vacation inMartha's Vineyard.[1] The selection came in two lists, "Volume 1: Summer Day" and "Volume 2: Summer Night".[1] The playlists were the first posted to theWhite House's officialSpotify account.[1]
Other playlists Obama has shared include aChristmas music playlist released onChristmas Eve 2015[2] and a workout playlist commissioned byWired in October 2016.[3][4] In 2018, the president's wifeMichelle Obama released aValentine's Day playlist called "Forever Mine".[5]
In 2017, Obama jokingly said he wanted a job at Spotify after his presidency.[6] In response, Spotify posted a job listing for a "President of Playlists", with listed requirements including "at least eight years' experience running a highly-regarded nation ... a friendly and warm attitude, and aNobel Peace Prize".[6] Spotify CEODaniel Ektweeted a link to the listing to Obama, saying "I heard you were interested in a role at Spotify. Have you seen this one?"[6] The following year, Barack and Michelle signed a multi-year podcast production partnership agreement with Spotify through their production company,Higher Ground Productions.[7]
Obama curates the playlists himself, which he says people have expressed doubt about.[8] In an interview withHasan Minhaj, he said "People believe the books and the movies, but the playlists, they somehow think... and this is somehow coming from young people like you. Somehow y'all think you inventedrock and roll. You inventedhip hop. And so the fact that my lists are, you know, pretty incredible, people seem to think, 'Well he must have had some 20-year-oldintern who was figuring out this latest cut.' No man, it's on myiPad right now."[8] He admitted to taking suggestions, saying "it's not like I got time to be listening to music all the time. So typically at the end of the year what happens is folks will be like, 'Man, you need to listen to this. This is good.' But unless I'm actually listening to it, watching it, reading it, I won't put it on there."[8]
Okkervil River'sWill Sheff responded positively to being included in 2015.[1]Low Cut Connie also responded positively initially,[1] though two years later, the band's frontman Alex Weiner reported having seen no change in their career success after the inclusion.[9]The Verge's Kaitlyn Tiffany called the list "carefully and painstakingly crafted to cover every major genre of American music", but was disappointed by the exclusion of theOne Direction song "Drag Me Down", noting that One Direction memberNiall Horan "could be recognized as the biggest Barack Obama fan in the world."[10]
In a 2016 piece forThe Guardian,Rebecca Carroll wrote about how that year's playlist was symbolic of Obama's reaffirmation of hisBlackness.[11] She said there was "no black cultural marker more abiding than our music".[11] She highlighted his inclusion of theAloe Blacc song "The Man" which she called "a bonafide black man's anthem";[11] and the song "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" byMethod Man featuringMary J. Blige, where she compared Obama's relationship with his wife Michelle to the one depicted in the song's music video, "the blackest, most glorious, magnificent display of camaraderie, love and loyalty."[11]
MultipleTwitter users responded negatively to the inclusion ofWale's song "LoveHate Thing" on the 2016 list.[12] Wale responded to one user in particular with a long rant, calling them a "culture vulture" and threatening to physically attack them.[12] In December,J. Cole released the song "False Prophets", the second verse of which fans speculated could be about Wale as it describes a rapper who struggles with the opinions of critics and fans.[13][14] Wale responded with afreestyle, "Groundhog Day", in which he confessed to struggling withmental illness and discussed Cole's place in his career history.[13] At the end of the song, he says the line "See you at the game"; later that night, Cole and Wale were photographed together at aNorth Carolina State basketball game.[13]
Following the inclusion of theBoygenius song "Not Strong Enough" on the 2023 list, band memberLucy Dacus responded in a tweet with the words "war criminal:(".[15]
Multiple publications and numerous social media users singled out the 2024 list for not including pop singerChappell Roan,[16][17][18][19] who had significant success in 2024,[20] including her albumThe Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess reaching the top three of theBillboard 200 albums chart[21] and the single "Good Luck, Babe!" reaching the top ten of theBillboard Hot 100.[22] The social media response led to the words "No Chappell Roan"trending inTwitter's politics category.[16]
The 2015 playlists, released on August 15, included:[1]
The 2016 playlists, released on August 11, included:[23][24]
The 2019 playlist, released on August 24, included:[25]
The 2020 playlist, released on August 17, included:[26]
The 2021 playlist, released on July 11, included:[27]
The 2022 playlist, released on July 26, included:[28]
The 2023 playlist, released on July 20, included:[29]
The 2024 playlist, released on August 12, included:[30]
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