Each summer, President Barack Obama takes a break from hanging out with Jennifer Aniston Michelle Obama and regales us with his “summer playlist†and “summer reading list.†And each year, the playlist prompts people across the nation to say, “Sasha or Malia told you to include that, didn’t they?†Obama made his official 2024 summer selections on August 12, and his music picks are a combination of the perfunctory (Beyoncé’s biggest single this year, “Texas Hold ’Emâ€), the deeply “retired dad†(’80s Bob Dylan), and the Zeitgeist chasing that has come to define Prez Obama. This time it’s Charli XCX’s “365.†The playlist including a song off of Brat was a nigh guarantee after the album briefly became synonymous with the Kamala Harris campaign, but … “365â€? Really? It’s an ode to hedonism with the repeated insistence: “Should we do a little key? Should we have a little line?†Not saying that we’d begrudge Obama any skiing of the slopes, but it’s just not demure. Not very mindful.
On a list with such an odd sensibility that Saweetie’s “My Best†sits right next to Charles Mingus’s “Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting,†it is hard to truly declare any snubs. But still, it’s a bit of a surprise that he didn’t find room for Kendrick Lamar’s act of anti-Canadian terrorism, “Not Like Us.†It’s one of the biggest songs of the year, and Obama is a noted member of that K-Hive. Maybe he can’t give up poutine with Justin Trudeau. The list remains as entirely incomprehensible as always, sir.