Obama drops summer playlist for 2023

Former President Obama has released his annual summer music playlist for 2023. 

In a tweet Thursday, Obama shared his favorite songs that kept him going during his leisure time this year. 

In his summer playlist, which consists of 41 songs, the former president shared songs from popular current artists such as Jorja Smith’s “Try Me”; hip-hop’s latest breakout star Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj’s “Princess Diana”; Afrobeats artist Burna Boy and rapper 21 Savage’s “Sittin’ On Top Of The World”; SZA’s “Snooze”; and “Drums,” a song by Money Man and Babyface Ray. 

Obama’s summer playlist also included songs from music legends such as “The World Is Yours,” a hit single from Queens-based rapper Nas’s debut album “Illmatic”; Ella Fitzgerald’s “Cry Me A River”; Otis Redding “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay”; Pearl Jam’s “Just Breathe”; Stevie Wonder’s “Golden Lady”; and Ike & Tina Turner’s “River Deep – Mountain High.” 

“Like I do every year, here are some songs I’ve been listening to this summer — a mix of old and new,” Obama wrote in his tweet. “Look forward to hearing what I’ve missed.”

Obama’s 2022 summer music playlist included songs from artists such as Drake, Rihanna, Tems, Vince Staples, D’Angelo, Aretha Franklin, The Fugees’s Wyclef Jean and Ms. Lauryn Hill, and rapper Rakim. 

The former president also shared the list of the books he’s been reading this year, as well as a link to a list of banned books compiled by the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). 

“With so many books being banned across the country, @DPLA has launched The Banned Book Club to give readers access to e-books that have been banned,” he said in a tweet.