From Kendrick to Shaboozey: Some of Y'all Are Going to Be Mad At Obama's Favorites List of 2024

The Tiktok and club favorite melody that broke the internet surfaced on the former President’s playlist. It still is amazing that we are on the same internet as thee Barack Obama.

We know which side Obama was on for the rap beef! After the year Kendrick Lamar had, it’s no wonder why Obama selected one of the many gems that were on his GNX album released mid-November. The rapper now has another trophy to add the the vault of W’s.

This will likely be controversial. America’s favorite song of the year that was recently snubbed at the CMAs also made an appearance on Obama’s music favorites. Shaboozey had a record setting year for sure. The single had the longest running number-one song, sitting at number-one for 19 weeks. I mean, the song was so loved it was the NFL theme song for a second. Good choice, Obama. The numbers add up for this one.

Of course Beyoncé, the star among other stars, made her way on Obama’s list. The cultural significance of the song alone makes it one of the most important songs released this year. This was another snubbed album at the CMAs, but that’s conversation for another day.

The futuristic, mythic sequel showcased actors Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Austin Butler and Florence Pugh in an epic journey of self-discovery and the quarrels of chasing revenge. The movie is an adaptation of the 1965 novel series “Dune” by Frank Herbert. If you missed it, you’re missing out.

The Piano Lesson is based of the play written by August Wilson, an iconic Black playwright that you should know. The movie directed by Malcolm Washington and produced by Denzel Washington features a lot of Black household names such as John David Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Erykah Badu and more. The movie follows the Charles family as they decide what to do with an heirloom piano. It premiered on Netflix in November.

Although, “The Promised Land” released in 2023, it still was featured on Obama’s list. The movie takes place in 18th century Denmark and follows Captain Ludvig Kahlen and his journey to conquer “uninhabitable land” for his King.

Obama picked another somewhat political movie selection. This movie directed by Edward Berger depicts one of the most paramount appointments in the world, selecting the new Pope. Tatsha Robertson, the Editor-in-Chief of The Root, loved the book, too.

With a raging mental health crisis among the youth, “The Anxious Generation” is a timely piece on the shift of social lives for American teens from 2010-2015.

This novel is also a timely piece after tragic recent events (the election), that details a fantasy world in which a network of taxi cabs that actually assist immigrants, migrants and refugees alike. It poses the question of what if we were actually welcoming instead of the terrifyingly divisive reality we live in.

Author, Arlie Russell Hochschild, dares to explore the one question a lot of us have been wondering for quite some time, why did a lot of White America vote for Donald Trump? More broadly, it delves into white supremacist commentary during recent elections.

Obama knows a little something about making something out of nothing. So, if he’s telling us to read this it would behoove all of us to indulge. The novel allocates various works of art across all mediums to disclose the secrets and patterns of the creative process.