Should Barack Obama, a man who once controlled the world’s second-biggest nuclear arsenal, know what “Brat summer” is? Well, he does: “365”, the frantic closing track on Charli xcx’s Brat, has made it to the 2024 edition of the former President’s annual summer playlist, which dropped on Monday. It’s one of many buzzy, contemporary songs (Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”, Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em”, Billie Eilish’s “Chihiro”) that share space on this year’s list with more timeless cuts from dad-adored musicians like Sting, Charles Mingus, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake.
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Obama started sharing his cultural highlights with the world when he was still president, in the form of four or five books most summers. In 2015, the first summer playlists were unveiled—in handy “Day” and “Night” versions, implying that Camp David got pretty lit on the occasional August evening. Since Obama left office, the lists have got longer, a film list has been added, and he now does them twice yearly. Freed from the burdens of the presidency, it seems like Obama is spending an awful lot of his time on music blogs and in newspaper arts sections.
Or someone is, anyway. Because whenever Obama releases a list of songs, a lot of people wonder if it’s really all him. Is a 63-year-old former statesman really bumping Charli XCX and Gunna? Did he really enjoy Dave and Central Cee’s “Sprinter” and Stormzy’s “Toxic Trait”, as per his December 2023 list? Earlier picks have also included Mitski, Boygenius, Sudan Archives and Travis Scott. There is much speculation that the lists are assembled by his younger staffers, or even his stylish daughters, Malia and Sasha.
The 44th president is outraged by this slander. “People seem to think, ‘Well, he must’ve had some 20-year-old intern who was figuring out this latest cut,’” he said in an interview last year. “No, man! It’s on my iPad right now!” Maybe we should give him the benefit of a doubt. But either way, the lists are still interesting, because they represent—authentically or artificially—the platonic ideal of cool dad taste.
