advertisement
Music News

Barack Obama Shares His Favorite Songs of 2023

"Let me know if there are any artists or songs I should check out," the former POTUS wrote.

Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Barack Obama is taking the aux. With just three days left of 2023, the former president of the United States revealed which tunes he was grooving to the most over the past year, featuring pop music, country, R&B and more.

The annual list comes on the heels of Obama’s yearly book and movie favorites, which the ex-POTUS shared earlier this week. In 2023, he had exactly 28 tracks on repeat, with highlights including “TQG” by Karol G and Shakira, “I Remember Everything” by Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves, “Sprinter” by Dave and Central Cee and “America Has a Problem” by Beyoncé feat. Kendrick Lamar.


advertisement

The A Promised Land author also included Megan Thee Stallion’s “Cobra,” Tyla’s “Water,” Mitski’s “My Love Mine All Mine” and Victoria Monét’s “On My Mama.” “Here are some of my favorite songs from this year,” he wrote on Instagram Friday (Dec. 29). “Let me know if there are any artists or songs I should check out.”

Mr. Obama’s music taste has long been known to be diverse, as documented by his song lists over the past few years. In 2022, he shouted out music from artists such as Lizzo, Rosalía, Ari Lennox, Ethel Cain, Steve Lacy and Omar Apollo. A few — Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Zach Bryan — were featured on both his 2022 and 2023 playlists.

The 44th prez also typically shares his favorite songs of the summer every year, with his seasonal jams of 2023 including Boygenius, Ice Spice, Luke Bryan, Nicki Minaj and Leonard Cohen.

See Obama’s full 2023 favorite songs list below:

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.

advertisement
Melissa Auf der Maur
Norman Jean Roy

Melissa Auf der Maur

Music News

Melissa Auf der Maur Captures the Grunge and Chaos of the ‘90s in New Photo Exhibition

My ‘90s Rock Photographs at Toronto’s Art Gallery of Ontario follows the Montreal-born musician through the last analogue decade, capturing on- and off-stage life as the bassist for two of the greatest rock bands: Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins.

Melissa Auf der Maur says she was one of the earliest pioneers of the selfie.

“Everybody knows this perspective now because you all do it on your phones, but I promise you I was the only person doing this. I even got a wide-angle point-and-shoot [camera] so that I could fit more people in [a photo],” she tells Billboard Canada, pointing to an image with famed actor and director Danny DeVito. “He had no idea what I was doing, turning the camera on us. I think my generation started looking at the world in a new way.”

keep readingShow less
advertisement