Barack Obama's summer playlist is an annual playlist curated by former President of the United StatesBarack Obama. The president has shared a playlist, curated by himself, every summer since 2015, except for 2017 and 2018. 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.
History
Barack Obama shared his first summer playlists in August 2015, while he and his family were on vacation in Martha'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 the White House's official Spotify account.[1]
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 a Nobel Peace Prize".[6] Spotify CEO Daniel 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]
Curation
Obama curates the playlists himself, which he says people have expressed doubt about.[8] In an interview with Hasan 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 invented rock and roll. You invented hip 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-old intern who was figuring out this latest cut.' No man, it's on my iPad 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]
Response
Okkervil River's Will 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 the One Direction song "Drag Me Down", noting that One Direction member Niall Horan "could be recognized as the biggest Barack Obama fan in the world."[10]
In a 2016 piece for The Guardian, Rebecca Carroll wrote about how that year's playlist was symbolic of Obama's reaffirmation of his Blackness.[11] She said there was "no black cultural marker more abiding than our music".[11] She highlighted his inclusion of the Aloe 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" by Method Man featuring Mary 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]
Multiple Twitter users responded negatively to the inclusion of Wale'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 a freestyle, "Groundhog Day", in which he confessed to struggling with mental 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 a North Carolina State basketball game.[13]
