Black Thought, MF Doom, Kendrick Lamar, and NxWorries have made it onto Barack Obama’s list of favorite songs of 2022, among other notable hip-hop names.
As he’s done throughout his tenure, the former president on Friday (December 23) published a list of his favorite books, movies, and songs of the year on his Instagram. The song list spanned a variety of genres but had a heavy focus on hip-hop and R&B.
The list was not numbered, but the first song mentioned was Kendrick Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5”, which was released at K.Dot’s fifth studio, Mr. Moral & The teaser released before Big Steppers is his single. Also included were his MF DOOM posthumous appearances in Black Thought and Danger Mouse’s “Belize.” ‘Where I Go’ by Anderson.Paak and Knxwledge duo NxWorries and Lizzo’s inevitable hit ‘About Damn Time’.
“It’s always a pleasure to share our year-end music playlist with you, and we’ve heard so many great songs this year. Here are some of my favorites,” Barack Obama captioned the post, asking followers to nominate their favorites of the year.
R&B was well-represented by Ari Lennox, Beyoncé, SiR, Steve Lacy, SZA, Tank and The Bangas, and Xavier Omar, allowing for a very varied selection within that genre.
The annual lists of the former president usually include music from a variety of genres, and this year’s list had well-liked albums from Bad Bunny, Burna Boy, Ethel Cain, Zach Bryan, and Reggae musician Koffee.
Earlier this year, the 44th President unveiled another of his annual musical traditions, the Summer Playlist. This playlist also featured some of the successful songs and artists by the end of the year.
The 44 tracks, from Lil Yachty’s “Split/Whole Time” and Rakim’s “When I B On The Mic” to Wyclef Jean’s “Guantanamera” (featuring Lauryn Hill and Kendrick Lamar’s “Die Hard”) reaffirmed their love for hip-hop in the past and the present.
Vince Staples, whose “Magic” track with mustard ranked him number 43 on the playlist, couldn’t help but comment. An hour after Obama shared the playlist, Long posted on Twitter that the beach-bred rapper mentioned the ad-libs he used on the song.
“Will you all be mad if I convince Obama to come to the set?” Vince joked, confirming the shot.
