Former United States (US) President Barack Obama has unveiled his much-anticipated annual summer playlist, which includes 44 diverse and captivating songs.
Tems and Rema are the only Nigerians who made it to this year’s list of artistes, as shared by Obama on X. In his post, Obama expressed his diverse music taste and shared the playlist with his followers, hoping they would discover new music ideas as summer winds down.
Tems and Rema’s inclusion follows previous recognitions of Nigerian artists, including Wizkid and Tems in 2020, Burna Boy in 2022, and Ayra Starr in 2023.
However, no Nigerian artist was featured in Obama’s 2021 playlist.
Other notable songs on the list include Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”, Charli XCX’s “365”, Billie Eilish’s “Chihiro Bob Marley’s “Them Belly Full”, Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em”, The Miracles’ “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me”, Samara Joy’s.
“Someone to Watch Over Me” featuring Pasquale Grasso, and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Wanna Be” featuring GloRilla.
This year’s summer playlist comes after the former President confirmed last year that his famous playlists are actually curated by him, refuting claims that the compilations are pieced together by someone else.
Speaking to comedian Hasan Minhaj, Obama said when asked if he listens and chooses himself: “I do! Listen. I am so glad that I have this opportunity. People believe the books and the movies, but the playlists, they somehow think — and this is mostly coming from young people like you — somehow, y’all think you invented rock ‘n’ roll. You invented hip-hop.
“And so the fact that my lists are, you know, pretty incredible — people seem to think, well, he must’ve had some 20-year-old intern who was figuring out this latest cut. No, man! It’s on my iPad right now.”
