President Obama’s summer playlist: a proud affirmation of his blackness

From Aloe Blaccs joyful anthem to Mary J Blige and Method Mans ballad of love against the odds, the presidents mixtape reminds us why we will miss him

Straight out of college, I dated a guy from Washington DC who had just spent a few years working on the redevelopment of public housing projects in Chicago. We met at Harvard, where I was working as a receptionist at the department of Afro-American studies, which was his focus for a graduate degree. He was easygoing and honest, handsome and smart, with outstanding taste in music (I will be forever grateful to him for introducing me to Outkast in particular, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik). A light-skinned black man with a palpable sense of racial pride, the man Ill call Tim would occasionally mention with fondness a friend hed made during his time in Chicago. The two had bonded over basketball and politics, race and identity, local government policy and community service. His friends name was Barack.

Now, do I know for a fact that Tim had an influence on the presidents musical preferences? No. But judging from Obamas summer playlist, released on Thursday, Im willing to posit that its not out of the question. Both Tim and the president have black fathers and white mothers, while firmly identifying as black, as opposed to biracial or mixed which, given the current climate for black men in America, is not an unfraught declaration. Still, as Obama wrote in his book Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, he didnt get there overnight, and he often turned to books and friends and black cultural markers for guidance.
Theres no black cultural marker more abiding than our music, and if Obamas playlist indicates nothing else its that reaffirmation of ones blackness can always be found right there in the bars. It also strikes me that although he has been frequently criticized for his handling of race and policies regarding the overall inequities experienced by black folks in America, among the most important aspects of his legacy is that he is going to leave that Oval Office as blackity black as he was when he entered. And that means mic drops, an entire absence of fucks, and dope playlists.

From the daytime list, which includes Wale, Jidenna, Nina Simone and Prince, the standout here is Aloe Blaccs The Man, both because its a bonafide black mans anthem Stand up now and face the sun/Wont hide my tail or turn and run/Its time to do what must be done/Be a king when kingdom comes and because Blacc is a national treasure. Enough so that Im willing to cut Obama some slack on the Sara Bareilles selection, and the Beach Boys too, not because these arent talented singer/songwriters, nor because they are white (because lets be honest, all popular music in America is in some way influenced by black music), but because they are just kind of cheesy.