Former president Barack Obama makes a summer playlist to post online every year, and now he’s unveiled 2024’s. “With summer winding down, I wanted to share some songs that I’ve been listening to lately – and it wouldn’t be my playlist if it didn’t include an eclectic mix,” he writes.
Obama, like Kamala Harris and NYC mayor Eric Adams, is totally having a brat summer — “365” is right there on the first page of picks — but conspicuously absent is Chappell Roan, who has been drawing enormous crowds of pink-clad fans at festivals all summer (including Lollapalooza earlier this month, where a spokesperson for the festival told CNN that she had “the biggest daytime set we’ve ever seen”).
The playlist does, however, feature Billie Eilish‘ “Chihiro,” Tems‘ “Love Me Jeje,” Lucinda Williams‘ “Unsuffer Me,” The Rolling Stones‘ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” Cleo Sol‘s “Why Don’t You,” Saweetie‘s “My Best,” Charles Mingus‘ “Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting,” Norah Jones‘ “Come Away With Me,” Nick Drake‘s “One of These Things First,” Bob Dylan‘s “Silvio,” Pharoah Sanders‘ “Love is Everywhere,” The Supremes‘ “Where Did Our Love Go,” Common‘s “The People,” GloRilla & Megan Thee Stallion‘s “Wanna Be,” Tyla, Gunna & Skillibeng‘s “Jump,” Bad Bunny & Feid‘s “Perro Negro,” Rema‘s “Yayo,” Beyoncé‘s “Texas Hold ‘Em,” Bonny Light Horseman‘s “Old Dutch,” Digable Planets‘ “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat),” WILLOW‘s “Symptom of Life,” Moneybagg Yo ft. Morgan Wallen‘s “Whiskey Whiskey,” and more. See it in full below.
At Governors Ball in June, Chappell told the crowd that she’d declined a White House invitation to perform at a Pride event. “This is a response to the White House, who asked me to perform for Pride,” she said. “We want liberty, justice and freedom for all. When you do that, that’s when I’ll come.”
“That means freedom in trans rights, that means freedom in women’s rights, and… it especially means freedom for all oppressed people in occupied territories,” she added.