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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.


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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.

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The Spotify logo in shown on a tablet on Feb. 10, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. Spotifiy's stock price spiked after the company reported a 11% jump in monthly users from a year ago to 751 million, beating analysts expectations of 744.7 million.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

The Spotify logo in shown on a tablet on Feb. 10, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. Spotifiy's stock price spiked after the company reported a 11% jump in monthly users from a year ago to 751 million, beating analysts expectations of 744.7 million.

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Spotify to Label AI Artists on the Platform With New ‘AI Persona’ Badge

The music of artists tagged with the label will be excluded from personalized recommendations on the service.

Spotify has announced the creation of a new label that will be applied to AI-generated artists and begin rolling out in mid-September. Music from artists bearing the label, called “AI Persona,” will not be included in personalized recommendations on the platform.

Creators can begin disclosing that an artist profile is AI-generated starting Tuesday (Aug. 11). Spotify won’t solely rely on voluntary disclosures, however, as the streaming platform will also review accounts. For accounts that Spotify labels as AI, artists will have the opportunity to either self-disclose or appeal.

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