Barack Obama is known to be a big fan of hip hop and soul. No wonder, then, that musicians from these genres are particularly well represented in his list of the best songs of the year. As every year, the ex-US President also presents his favorite films. This time there is only one mainstream blockbuster – and a whole series of insider tips.
As always at the end of the year, Barack Obama released his favorite songs. The former US President posted a list of his musical favorites on Twitter. 24 songs made it onto Obama’s unranked playlist. Previously, Obama also named his favorite films of the year.
Artists from the fields of hip hop and soul take up a lot of space in the music list. Superstar and Obama confidante Beyoncé is represented with “Break My Soul” as well as Lizzo with “About Damn Time”. Both songs are nominated for a Grammy for Best Song. Rap is represented by Kendrick Lamar (“The Heart Part 5”) and Danger Mouse/Black Thought (“Belize”), among others.
Of course, the most streamed artist of 2022 is not missing from Barack Obama either. Reggaeton star Bad Bunny can be happy about the mention of his song “Titi Me Pregunto”. Here the former US President is in good company: “Titi Me Pregunto” topped the annual best lists of “Rolling Stone” and “Time Magazine”. The fact that Latin pop is hip is also shown by Obama’s recommendation of the Spaniard Rosalia, who will be celebrated in 2022.
With folk and classic singer-songwriter pop, Barack Obama pays tribute to other American genres. His favorites here are Ethel Cain and Zach Bryan. In general, Obama’s list is heavily focused on the United States. But the ex-president also thinks outside the box. His list includes artists from Nigeria (Burna Boy), Jamaica (Koffee) and Haiti (Leyla McCalla).
A few days ago, Obama also published a list of his favorite films of the year. This only contains a single mainstream blockbuster with the Tom Cruise sequel “Top Gun: Maverick”.
Many of the strips from Obama’s list have already appeared in Germany. These include the sci-fi adventure film Everything Everywhere All at Once, the historical action drama The Woman King, the tragic comedy Aftersun, the French youth film Petite Maman, the French drama ” The Event”, the Spanish comedy “The Perfect Boss”, the Japanese anthology film “The Wheel of Fortune”, the Iranian-French feature film “A Hero – The Lost Honor of Mr. Soltani” and the sci-fi film “After Yang”, the is available on Sky. The documentary “The Descendants of the Slave Ship Clotilda” is already available on Netflix. Filmmaker Margaret Brown’s work was produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground Productions. Obama also notes this with the words “I am biased” next to the name of the film.
Other film titles recommended and praised by Obama are still awaiting release in German cinemas. These include Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical work “The Fabelmans” (German theatrical release on March 9, 2023), “The Woman in the Fog” by art-house filmmaker Park Chan-wook (German theatrical release on February 2, 2023), the biography “Till – Fight for the Truth” (German release date here is January 26, 2023) and the critically acclaimed music drama “Tár” starring Oscar winner Cate Blanchett (German theatrical release on March 2, 2023).
