His lists have a tradition: Former President Barack Obama shared his favorite songs of 2023 after he recently announced his top films. Are the songs as controversial as the films?
The Spotify “Wrapped” annual review, the 2023 Reels on Instagram – at the end of the year, many like to look back on the past twelve months. Former US President Barack Obama (62) is no exception: for a while now, he has made it a tradition to share works from the fields of literature, film and music with his over 36 million Instagram followers every year have particularly influenced him. On Friday he published .
Barack Obama’s musical recommendations – from rap to country
What is striking about the list, which includes 28 songs, is that the ex-president’s taste in music is broad, ranging from country and reggaeton to indie rock and electro. Lenny Kravitz (59) made it into the favorites list with his song “Road to Freedom”, as did Karol G (32) & Shakira (46, “TQG”), Tyla (21, “Water”), Megan Thee Stallion ( 28, “Cobra”) and Beyoncé (42) feat. Kendrick Lamar (36, “America has a Problem”).
Some of the artists listed expressed their joy at this honor from the former President of the USA. Tom Hanks’ (67) wife Rita Wilson (67) wrote: “What a surprise to see my duet ‘Crazy Love’ with Keith Urban here. Thank you very much, President Obama!” Allison Russell (41), who also appears with “The Returner,” thanked Obama for “listening and sharing” and feels “deeply honored.”
Controversy surrounding his film list
About a week ago, Obama began his review lists for 2023. Meanwhile, it became controversial. The reason: Obama produced three of the films listed himself, as he himself noted in his post on December 28th: ”I am biased,” Obama writes in his post on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, “because these films are made by Higher Ground, but they are actually “three of the best films I’ve seen this year.” These are the film biography “Rustin”, the Netflix thriller “Leave The World Behind” and the music documentary “American Symphony”.
The other list includes the historical drama “Oppenheimer” with Cillian Murphy (47) in the leading role, as well as “Anatomy of a Case” with the German actress Sandra Hülser (45) and “Air: The Great Throw” by Ben Affleck (51 ). “The Holdovers”, “BlackBerry”, “American Fiction”, “Innocence”, “Past Lives – In Another Life”, “Polite Society” and “A Thousand And One” complete the list.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
