Former President Barack Obama has shared his playlist of his current favorite songs for Summer 2023. His latest picks include SZA’s SOS track “Snooze,” “Not Strong Enough” by Boygenius, and Janelle Monáe‘s “Only Have Eyes 42,” as well as cuts by Bob Dylan, Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj, Aretha Franklin, Jorja Smith, Kelela, Leonard Cohen, and more. See the full playlist below.
Obama has made a twice-yearly habit of sharing lists of his favorite books, music, and movies. His top songs of 2022 included tracks by Rosalía, Maggie Rogers, Kendrick Lamar, and Bad Bunny, with Mdou Moctar, Mitski, the War on Drugs, and more getting those honors the year prior.
In June, when interviewer Hasan Minhaj asked if he really made his own selections for the playlists, Obama offered a lighthearted defense. “People seem to think, ‘Well, he must’ve had some 20-year-old intern who was figuring out this latest cut,’” he said, continuing, “No, man! It’s on my iPad right now!”
Revisit “The Presidential Suite: A Look Back at Obama’s Musical Milestones.”
Barack Obama’s Summer 2023 Playlist:
J Hus and Drake: “Who Told You”
SZA: “Snooze”
Pretenders: “I’ll Stand By You”
Rosalía & Rauw Alejandro: “Vampiros”
Luke Combs: “Fast Car”
Tupac, Roger, & Dr. Dre: “California Love”
Leonard Cohen: “Dance Me to the End of Love (Live)”
Martha Reeves & the Vandellas: “Nowhere to Run”
Nobigdyl.: “Parabolic!”
Jorja Smith: “Try Me”
Burna Boy, 21 Savage: “Sittin’ on Top of the World”
Janet Jackson: “Got ’Til It’s Gone”
La Doña: “Penas con Pan”
The Bangles: “Walk Like an Egyptian”
The Beths: “Watching the Credits”
The War and Treaty: “That’s How Love Is Made”
The Rolling Stones: “Soul Survivor”
Aretha Franklin: “Dr. Feelgood (Love Is a Serious Business)”
John Coltrane: “Blue Train”
Ice Spice, Nicki Minaj: “Princess Diana”
Toots and the Maytals: “Funky Kingston”
The Righteous Brothers: “Unchained Melody”
Golden Lady: “Stevie Wonder”
Jackson Browne: “Doctor My Eyes”
Ayra Starr: “Sability”
Boygenius: “Not Strong Enough”
Otis Redding: “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay”
Bob Dylan: “Everything Is Broken”
Ella Fitzgerald: “Cry Me a River”
Yng Lvcas & Peso Pluma: “LA Bebe (Remix”
Money Man & Babyface Ray: “Drums”
Nas: “The World Is Yours”
Four Tops: “Reach Out I’ll Be There”
Pearl Jam: “Just Breathe”
J’calm: “Tempted”
Kelela: “Contact”
Marvin Gaye: “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)”
Ike & Tina Turner: “River Deep/Moutain High”
Janelle Monáe: “Only Have Eyes 42”
Ashley McBride: “The Devil I Know”
Michael Kiwanuka: “Love & Hate”