Barack Obama’s annual 25 favorite songs list includes Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Burna Boy, Omar Apollo, Steve Lacy, Sudan Archives and Maggie Collins.
Following his posts about what he took in from the worlds of movies and books this year, former president Barack Obama followed through Friday with a list of his 25 favorite songs of 2022, hitting some familiar favorites shared by much of America — Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” and Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul” being probably foregone conclusions — along with some more obscure acts that may prompt Googling even among dedicated music fans.
“I always enjoy sharing my end of year music playlist with all of you — and this year we heard a lot of great songs. Here are some of my favorites,” he wrote on social media (adding, in true Eric Alper Twitter mass-engagement fashion, “Are there any songs or artists I should check out?”).
Obama’s list hits some of the biggest releases of the year in wisely disparate genres, including the Latin music of Bad Bunny, with the song “Titi Me Pregunto,” and country, with the blockbuster new artist Zach Bryan and his left-field streaming smash “Something in the Orange.