Don't worry. It's far too early in my blogging career to get political. I assure you, that's not what this is. Please keep reading.
One thing I always find fascinating about pop culture is our infatuation with celebrities. We want to know them and we want to be like them -- so we wear what they wear, eat like they eat, and at times behave just as strangely as they do. I'm not here to judge, I always find it intriguing when you hear of actors who never watch their own movies or how they behave on set. I often wonder how musicians just write songs seemingly without effort. I watched a Howard Stern interview a while back where Chris Martin claimed to write the smash hit "Yellow" in fifteen minutes. Good grief. But anyway, I digress.
What I'm really getting at is that celebrities are intriguing figures and in the age of social media we have more information (whether true or not) about them at our fingertips. This provides answers to all the questions that we've ever wondered about them. Questions like: do Haley Bieber and Selena actually dislike each other, what exactly is conscious uncoupling, and maybe most importantly, what kind of music does the President of the United States listen to? Well, we finally have the answer to at least the latter question, thanks to Barack Obama's recent social media post on his "favourite music of 2019."
My first impression. Barack likes to groove. There is an eclectic mix of genres and artists on this list, but one thing theme that runs throughout is groove. Nevermind the healthy dose of Hip-Hop and Soca, this list is chalked full of songs that make you move. Whether it's the funk feel of the Lizzo track "Juice," the salsa vibes on "Baila Baila Baila" and "Anywhere," or even the folk dance sounds of Maggie Rogers and Sharon Van Etten. Personally, I can relate. In general I can get behind most songs that I can feel the beat and groove to. Songs where the music makes me move even if it's just that little head bob while chilling on the couch or driving in the car. The litmus test for me is how little of my favourite artists appear on this list and I still love it. There are a few songs on this list that didn't make it across my desk this year, and I was pleasantly surprised.
My favourites from this list have to be "Oblivions" by The National, "Anybody" by Burna Boy, and "On Chill" by Wale.
The curious choices for me are "Joke Ting" by GoldLink" and "Binz" by Solange. I know it's just preference so I won't dwell too much on it. I do think that dinner parties might get a bit awkward if only one of the Knowles sisters get put on the list.
Most importantly, if you can't get behind "Old Town Road" then we probably can't be friends. Obama likes it. Enough said.
Am I surprised at Obama's list? Maybe. I don't know what I expected. This isn't the first playlist Obama has released, but I can't say I have been following until now. Granted, this is all music from 2019, but I think I didn't expect this list to feel so modern, so eclectic, or even that I would like it as much as I do. Did his daughters help curate this? Is he really that cool?Maybe we will never know. But I am going to choose to believe that on a crisp fall day, Obama gets in the car, rolls down the windows and turns the dial to 11 on all these hot tracks. Just like you or me.
My Verdict: 8/10
Like it? Love it? Hate it? Impeach it? Hit me up in the comments and let me know what you think!
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