President Obama Works Out To Courtney Barnett, Icona Pop, Beyoncé
Our president has some strange musical tastes, and we now have more evidence of just how weird they are. Barack Obama is guest-editing next month’s issue of Wired, and as part of that he’s just shared his workout playlist. It’s only 10 songs long, but it leaves us with a lot to talk about. On the one hand, it’s awesome that he works out to Courtney Barnett’s “Elevator Operator” (a song that was also on one of the summer playlists he shared a few months ago), as well as “Get Me Bodied,” which is the exact right Beyoncé song that you’re going to want to hear if you’re on a treadmill. On the other hand, we live in a nation that’s led by a man who starts off his gym sessions by listening to the Black Eyed Peas’ “Let’s Get It Started (Spike Mix).” It’s hard to feel good about that.
As ever, President Obama has excellent taste in vintage soul music; he’s included the Isley Brothers’ “Live It Up, Pts. 1 & 2″ and Bob Marley’s soul-adjacent “Could You Be Loved” on his playlist. But he’s also included Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman,” which is a great song but not really a great workout song, you know? Also on there: The justly forgotten Drake/Jay Z collab “Off That,” a Sting solo single from 1985, and an Icona Pop song that isn’t “I Love It.” Check out the playlist below.
This would be a good place to point out that Michelle Obama’s workout playlist is way better, mostly because it features Chubb Rock’s “Treat ‘Em Right”:
Obama still has three months left to invite Courtney Barnett to the White House.