Mikel Galicia
Audio By Carbonatix
For the last three years, former president and national tastemaker Barack Obama has released his annual summer and year-end playlists on Spotify.
Each list has included a wide range of music from artists across genres, showing that the former leader of the free world also knows how to keep on rocking.
Obama’s summer playlists are eclectic in terms of both genre and time, with today’s hits mixed together with all-time classics to give us a window into what the Obamas jam at their summer barbecue. His year-end lists, however, are always composed of his favorite songs released that year.
Whether summer or year-end favorites, Obama’s playlists have consistently included some of Texas’ most beloved artists. In fact, every single list the former prez has made for Spotify has included at least one artist from the Lone Star State.
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In his summer 2019 playlist, Obama let us know that he was listening to Lizzo’s “Juice,” Beyoncé’s “MOOD 4 EVA,” and DJ Khaled’s “Shining,” which featured Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z. The first two made the cut on his “Favorite Music of 2019” playlist, adding Beyoncé’s sister Solange’s “Binz.”
The next summer, Obama came in hot with Khruangbin and Fort Worth soul singer Leon Bridges’ collaboration “Texas Sun” in the first spot, followed by more songs from Texas artists including The Chicks’ “Gaslighter,” Tank and the Bangas’ “Spaceship,” Beyoncé’s “ALREADY” as well as Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage (Remix)” with Beyoncé produced by Dallas’ J. White. “Savage” earned the No. 1 spot when Obama revisited the list at the end of the year.
Not that the former Chicago community organizer really needs it, but including a song by an underground hip-hop artist – and one from a relatively unknown scene at that – gives Obama some serious street cred.
This past summer, Dallas neo-soul queen Erykah Badu made Obama’s list of summer favorites with “Didn’t Cha Know” from her 2000 album Mama’s Gun.
Though Badu didn’t make it into his “Favorite Music of 2021” list, Dallas rapper Mo3 did with his posthumous release “In My Blood.” North Carolina crooner Morray added vocals to the song following the rapper’s death and gave all of his earnings to Mo3’s family.
A song about struggling to overcome the past to become a better person in the face of adversity, “In My Blood” may not be the only rap song on a list that includes tracks from Nas, Isaiah Rashad and Little Simz, but it is the one that goes the hardest.
Not that the former Chicago community organizer really needs it, but including a song by an underground hip-hop artist – and one from a relatively unknown scene at that – gives Obama some serious street cred.
Other acts with Texas history entered the year-end list alongside Mo3. Lizzo made a return to the former president’s list for her collaboration with Cardi B, “Rumors.” NYC-via-Denton indie-rock band Parquet Courts closes out this year’s list with its breakout hit single “Walking at a Downtown Pace.”
While it may just be a handful of songs stacked against several lists released across three years comprising hundreds of songs, it is nice to feel like Texas, and especially North Texas, musicians will always have a place in the heart and AirPods of our former president.
