President Obama Listens To Chance The Rapper, Courtney Barnett, Fiona Apple
We already know that Barack Obama has better taste in music than any previous President of the United States of America. Honestly, it’s not even close, and it never was. At this point, he’s just rubbing it in. On Twitter today, Obama shared two summer 2016 playlists, and while they’re not 100% gold, they’re a whole hell of a lot better than what we might see from virtually any other politician. On the playlist, he includes recent jams like Courtney Barnett’s “Elevator Operator,” Chance The Rapper’s “Acid Rain,” and Jidenna’s “Classic Man.” (The idea of Obama enjoying “Classic Man” is almost too much for me to handle, honestly.) He also reps for classics from people like Fiona Apple, D’Angelo, Prince, Nina Simone, Caetano Veloso, the Beach Boys, and Charles Mingus. Below, check out Obama’s tweet and the two playlists.
Been waiting to drop this: summer playlist, the encore. What's everybody listening to? pic.twitter.com/mqh1YVrycj
— President Obama (@POTUS) August 11, 2016
SONGS FOR THE DAYTIME:
01 Wale – “LoveHate Thing”
02 Leon Bridges – “Smooth Sailin'”
03 Courtney Barnett – “Elevator Operator”
04 Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros – “Home”
05 Sara Bareilles – “Many The Miles”
06 Janelle Monaé – “Tightrope”
07 Jidenna – “Classic Man”
08 Jay Z – “So Ambitious” (Feat. Pharrell)
09 Manu Chao – “Me Gustas Tu”
10 Common – “Forever Changes”
11 Aloe Blacc – “The Man”
12 Nas & Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley – “As We Enter”
13 Nina Simone – “Sinnerman”
14 Prince – “U Got The Look”
15 Aretha Franklin – “Rock Steady”
16 Beach Boys – “Good Vibrations”
17 Gary Clarke Jr. – “Don’t Owe You A Thang”
18 Gin Wigmore – “Man Like That”
19 Charles Mingus – “II B.S. (Edit)”
SONGS FOR THE NIGHTTIME
01 Chrisette Michele – “If I Have My Way”
02 Esperanza Spalding – “Espera”
03 Aaron Neville – “Tell It Like It Is”
04 Ledisi – “Alright”
05 Denise LaSalle – “Trapped By A Thing Called Love”
06 D’Angelo – “Lady”
07 Tower Of Power – “So Very Hard To Go”
08 Carmen McRae – “Midnight Sun”
09 Caetano Veloso – “Cucurrucucù Paloma”
10 Corinne Bailey Rae – “Green Aphrodisiac”
11 Method Man & Mary J. Blige – “I’ll Be There For You / You’re All I Need”
12 Billie Holiday – “Lover Man”
13 Fiona Apple – “Criminal”
14 Chance The Rapper – “Acid Rain”
15 Miles Davis – “My Funny Valentine”
16 Anthony Hamilton – “Do You Feel Me”
17 Janet Jackson – “I Get Lonely”
18 Lizz Wright – “Lean In”
19 War – “All Day Music”
20 Floetry – “Say Yes”
Remember this moment next year, when President Gary Johnson is telling us how much he loves ZZ Top or whatever. (Possible future Vice President Tim Kaine is reportedly a big Replacements fan, though, so there’s that.)