Barack Obama Unveils Summer time 2023 Playlist: boygenius, Pearl Jam, Ice Spice, and… “Stroll Like an Egyptian”?

The time has come once more for Barack Obama to share his summer time playlist; as common, it’s a mixture of classics and fashionable hits. Catch the previous president with headphones on, and chances are you’ll hear him listening to fashionable cool children like boygenius or Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj, or revered legends like Leonard Cohen. You might also hear him listening to “Stroll Like an Egyptian.”

You may clown on Obama for together with the latter monitor, however you may’t say The Bangles don’t ship some summery enjoyable! These good vibes proceed with cuts like 2Pac’s “California Love” and Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” Elsewhere, the 2023 playlist slows down for Pearl Jam’s “Simply Breathe” and Luke Combs’ tackle “Quick Automobile,” Tracy Chapman’s 1988 tune that just lately charted even larger than earlier than due to the unlikely nation cowl.

Different tracks that show Obama is surprisingly on the heartbeat of latest tradition embrace Kelela’s “Contact,” Jorja Smith’s “Attempt Me,” and Rosalía and Rauw Alejandro’s “Vampiros.” Wanting backward, the previous president additionally included cuts by The Pretenders, The Rolling Stones, and Janet Jackson, in addition to an ode to the late, nice Tina Turner with the inclusion of “River Deep – Mountain Excessive.”

It’s straightforward to forged doubt on whether or not or not Obama’s music spherical ups are curated by an outdoor workforce, and plenty of have raised suspicions earlier than. Final yr, nevertheless, he insisted to Hasan Minaj that he merely is cool sufficient to know who boygenius is (and Ethel Cain, Moist Leg, and SiR and Scribz Riley earlier than them). “Y’all [young people] suppose you invented rock ‘n’ roll. You invented hip-hop. And so the truth that my lists are, , fairly unimaginable — folks appear to suppose, effectively, he should’ve had some 20-year-old intern who was determining this newest reduce,” he stated. “No, man! It’s on my iPad proper now.”

Hearken to Obama’s 2023 Summer time Playlist under, then be a part of us in guffawing on the picture of the previous president listening to “Princess Diana.”

Like I do yearly, listed below are some songs I’ve been listening to this summer time — a mixture of outdated and new. Sit up for listening to what I’ve missed. pic.twitter.com/H2Do2iaD1p

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 20, 2023