Kendrick Lamar, Fontaines D.C. among Barack Obama’s favourite music of 2024

Barack Obama has published his annual favourite songs of the year list, with Kendrick Lamar, Fontaines D.C. and more making the cut in 2024.

• READ MORE: The 50 Best Songs of 2024

Lamar’s ‘Squabble Up’, Beyoncé’s ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’, Shaboozey’s ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ and Billie Eilish’s ‘Lunch’ all feature on the list, which also included tracks by Jack White, Leon Bridges, Central Cee, Artemas, Hozier and more.

“Here are my favorite songs from this year!” Obama wrote on Twitter/X today (December 21) “Check them out if you’re looking to shake up your playlist – and let me know if there’s a song or artist I should make sure to listen to.”

Last year, the former President denied claims that his often indie-centric playlists – which have previously featured likes of The War On Drugs, Little Simz and Mitski – weren’t curated by him, saying he was “scrupulous” about making sure his recommendations were songs he liked.

Here are my favorite songs from this year! Check them out if you’re looking to shake up your playlist – and let me know if there’s a song or artist I should make sure to listen to. pic.twitter.com/MK51Z77uEb

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 21, 2024

The full list of tracks on Barack Obama’s ‘Favorite Music Of 2023’ playlist is:

Kendrick Lamar – ‘Squabble Up’
Billie Eilish, ‘Lunch’
Rema – ‘Yayo’
Tyla, Gunna & Skillibeng – ‘Jump’
Central Cee & Lil Baby – ‘Band4band’
Ezra Collective & Yazmin Lacey – ‘God Gave Me Feet for Dancing’
The Red Clay Strays – ‘Ramblin’
Fontaines D.C. – ‘Favourite’
Asake & Travis Scott – ‘Active’
Shaboozey – ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’
Bonny Light Horseman – ‘Old Dutch’
Rae Khalil – ‘Is It Worth It’
Beyoncé – ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’
Jordan Adetunji – ‘Kehlani’
Artemas – ‘I Like the Way You Kiss Me’
Johnny Blue Skies – ‘Scooter Blues’
Hozier – ‘Too Sweet’
Leon Bridges – ‘Peaceful Place”
Tommy Richman – ‘Million Dollar Baby’
Waxahatchee & MJ Lenderman – ‘Right Back to It”
Myles Smith – ‘Stargazing’
Jack White – ‘That’s How I’m Feeling’
Moses Sumney – ‘Gold Coast
Karol G – ‘Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido’
FloyyMenor & Cris MJ – ‘Gata Only’

In NME’s own round-up of the 50 best songs of the year, tracks by artists featured on Obama’s playlist also cinched the top spots, with Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ coming in at Number 2, Fontaines D.C.’s ‘Starburster’ at 3, and Beyoncé’s ‘16 Carriages’ at Number 8.

Coming in at Number 1 however, was Chappell Roan‘s ‘Good Luck, Babe’, with NME writing: “There are hits, and then there are career-making hits. Released in April, this standalone single sent Chappell Roan supernova and turned her debut album, ‘The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess’, into an overdue smash.

With ‘Good Luck, Babe!’, Roan set out to write a “big anthemic pop song”. It was an unqualified success: over subtly insistent synth-pop, Roan serves up home truths to someone desperately trying to deny their queerness. The chorus – “you’d have to stop the world just to stop the feeling” – is both pitying and empathetic: a rare combination. It also shows off Roan’s gift for saying something profound in a way no one has quite managed before. If she wants it, the world’s her oyster.“

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