Barack Obama’s Annual Summer Playlist: Ice Spice, SZA, More

Barack Obama's annual music summer playlist has arrived! The former U.S. president shared his annual summer playlist on Thursday (July 20).

"Like I do every year, here are some songs I’ve been listening to this summer — a mix of old and new," Obama wrote in his tweet. "Look forward to hearing what I’ve missed."

Some of the hip-hop and R&B choices Obama added to his list were "Snooze," by SZA, "Princess Diana Remix," by Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj, as well as some throwback classics such as Tupac, Dr. Dre, and Roger Troutman's "California Love," and the late Ike and Tina Turner's "River Deep Mountain High."

In a June interview, Hasan Minhaj asked if he really made his own selections for the playlists.

"People seem to think, ‘Well, he must've had some 20-year-old intern who was figuring out this latest cut,'" he said, defending his playlist choices.  "No, man! It’s on my iPad right now!"

In addition to his playlist, he also shared some of his favorite books that he has read so far this year.

"Here’s some books that I’m reading this summer. Check them out and let me know what I should be reading next," he wrote.

"With so many books being banned across the country, @DPLA has launched The Banned Book Club to give readers access to e-books that have been banned," he added in an additional tweet. "Learn more at http://TheBannedBookClub.info."

That list included Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond, Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby, What Napoleon Could Not Do by DK Nnuro, Blue Hour by Tiffany Clarke Harrison,  Small Mercies by Dennis Lahane, King: A Life by Jonathan Big, Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton and The Wager by David Grann.

Take a look at the full version of Barack Obama’s 2023 Summer Playlist below:

The 44th president of the United States of America, Barack Obama, was the first African-American president but throughout his time in office as well as before and after, Obama has been continuously making a difference. Through these 10 facts about Obama and his legacy, you'll see that he is more than just the first Black president of the United States but the interests outside of the office and personal life shape his relatability, hard work, and love for America.

Take a look at 10 facts you might not know about Barak Obama:

The name Barack means “one who is blessed” in Swahili.

Obama is one of eight presidents that are left-handed. Prior to Obama's presidency, James Garfield, Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton are all left-handers.

Obama was the first Black editor of the Harvard Law Review and was elected in 1991. Obama attended Harvard Law School from 1988-1991.

Obama won a Noble Peace prize in 2009 "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

When the couple initially met, Michelle Obama was actually Barack's boss.

Obama has written 4 books, "The Audacity of Hope", "Dreams of My Father", "Change We Can Believe In", "Of Thee I Sing", and "A Promise Land". "A Promise Land" is the best selling presidential memoir of all-time.

Secret Service had a special moniker for the President and it was "Renegade". Obama got the idea from the 1989 film Renegades that he used to enjoy watching on the "sleepless nights on board the Obama ’08 bus."