Barack Obama Lists His Favorite Songs, Books, and Films, of 2018
Featuring Prince, Jay Rock, Leon Bridges, and so many more.
Just when we thought the year-end list blitz had come to its logical close, a new entry has surfaced. Former president and lifelong American icon, Barack Obama, has added his voice to the choir of suggested listenings, viewings, and readings, pouring out of your feed in the final weeks of the year.
Today, Obama has shared a lengthy directory of his 2018 in media consumption, detailing the cultural influences keeping him abreast of the human condition sans White House intelligence committees and advisors. This morning, he published his favorite songs, books, and films, of 2018 to Facebook, featuring nods to Chance The Rapper, Prince, Leon Bridges, Tom Misch, Mr. Rogers, Zadie Smith, and, of course, his wife, Michelle Obama, whose new memoir, Becoming, is rightfully atop his list of literature.
You can see Barack Obama's full list of 2018 selections down below. Hold tight for his next transmission.
Songs:
"Apes**t" by The Carters
"Bad Bad News" by Leon Bridges
"Could’ve Been" by H.E.R. (feat. Bryson Tiller)
"Disco Yes" by Tom Misch (feat. Poppy Ajudha)
"Ekombe: by Jupiter & Okwess
"Every Time I Hear That Song" by Brandi Carlile
"Girl Goin’" Nowhere by Ashley McBryde
"Historia De Un Amor" by Tonina (feat. Javier Limón and Tali Rubinstein)
"I Like It" by Cardi B (feat. Bad Bunny and J Balvin)
"Kevin’s Heart" by J. Cole
"King For A Day" by Anderson East
"Love Lies" by Khalid & Normani
"Make Me Feel" by Janelle Monáe
"Mary Don’t You Weep" (Piano & A Microphone 1983 Version) by Prince
"My Own Thing" by Chance the Rapper (feat. Joey Purp)
"Need a Little Time" by Courtney Barnett
"Nina Cried Power" by Hozier (feat. Mavis Staples)
"Nterini" by Fatoumata Diawara
"One Trick Ponies" by Kurt Vile
"Turnin’ Me Up" by BJ the Chicago Kid
"Wait" by the River by Lord Huron
"Wow Freestyle" by Jay Rock (feat. Kendrick Lamar)
And in honor of one of the great jazz singers of all time, who died this year, a classic album: The Great American Songbook by Nancy Wilson
Films:
Annihilation
Black Panther
BlacKkKlansman
Blindspotting
Burning
The Death of Stalin
Eighth Grade
If Beale Street Could Talk
Leave No Trace
Minding the Gap
The Rider
Roma
Shoplifters
Support the Girls
Won’t You Be My Neighbor
Books:
Becoming by Michelle Obama (obviously my favorite!)
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die by Keith Payne
Educated by Tara Westover
Factfulness by Hans Rosling
Futureface: A Family Mystery, an Epic Quest, and the Secret to Belonging by Alex Wagner
A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong’o
A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul
How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History by Mitch Landrieu
Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
The New Geography of Jobs by Enrico Moretti
The Return by Hisham Matar
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick Deneen
The World As It Is by Ben Rhodes
American Prison by Shane Bauer
Arthur Ashe: A Life by Raymond Arsenault
Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday
Feel Free by Zadie Smith
Florida by Lauren Groff
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight
Immigrant, Montana by Amitava Kumar
The Largesse of the Sea Maiden by Denis Johnson
Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Max Tegmark
There There by Tommy Orange
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan