Barack Obama's Year-End Playlist: Does He Listen To It All?

Barack Obama is a cultural icon. The former President stays busy all year long with multiple recommendation lists for the people, including books he read, movies he watched, and songs he had on repeat. However, some have been skeptical about Obama's wide range of reading, watching, and listening. Some speculate he doesn't create his own playlist, that someone else listens to these songs and curates them. Not only are the selections so broad, but they also suggest a TON of listening.

Can Barack Obama consume this much content in a year? Believe him when he says: He does it all himself. Comedian Hasan Minaj interviewed the previous POTUS for half an hour on a number of topics, including his end-of-year lists. With emphasis, Obama definitively squashed the rumors of cultural fraud: "...[T]he fact that my lists are, you know, pretty incredible — people seem to think, well, he must’ve had some 20-year-old intern who was figuring out this latest cut. No, man! It’s on my iPad right now."

Barack Obama's Current Lifestyle

Once you've done "the big job," life can become what you want it to be, in a way. For Barack Obama, this means going to events, consuming a ton of new content, and accepting fun interview requests. Minaj gets deep and wide in the interview above, asking Obama about depression, doom-scrolling, and his take on Andrew Tate. With classic Obama wit and a grumbly, loving uncle demeanor, he brushes off any "controversy" that he doesn't curate his own playlist. Last year's list had all-time hits like Kendrick Lamar's "The Heart Part 5" and Bad Bunny's "Titi Me Pregunto," as well as "Last Last" by Burna Boy and "Pull Up" by Koffee.

We might need to give Barack Obama more street cred. Impressively, he and his wife, Michelle Obama, wrote a letter to rapper Cordae following his Emmy win last year. Their daughters are part of the hip-hop scene as well. Malia Obama created a short film for Donald Glover's (Childish Gambino's) production company. Plus, he's never shied away from being a true man of the people. Barack Obama's track record should be enough for us to trust his tracklist.

[Via]