JAY-Z

Jay-Z, Drake, Rihanna, SZA, Bruno Mars, And More Appear On Barack Obama’s 2021 Summer Playlist

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Ever since his days as president, Barack Obama has been very open about his musical taste. Year after year, he’s shared playlists of favorite songs, both old and new. On Saturday he continued that trend. He dropped his 2021 summer playlist on Instagram, and it’s comprised of 38 songs featuring some of the biggest names of today and yesterday.

“With so many folks getting together with family and friends, there’s a lot to celebrate this summer,” Barack wrote. “I put together a playlist of some of the songs I’ve been listening to lately — it’s a mix of old and new, household names and emerging artists, and a whole lot in between.”

Some of the artists include Rihanna (“Desparado”), SZA (“Good Days“), Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak (“Leave The Door Open“), Drake (“Wants And Needs”), Migos (“Straightenin“), and J. Cole (“Neighbors”). Older additions include The Rolling Stones (“Tumbling Dice”), Stevie Wonder (“If You Really Love Me”), Bob Marley and The Wailers (“Exodus”), Erykah Badu (“Didn’t Cha Know”), Bob Dylan (“I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight”), and many more.

You can see the full list of songs on the playlist in the post above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Jay-Z Touts His Playlist Curation Prowess: ‘I Challenge Anyone Out There’

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Although Jay-Z isn’t making much new music these days (aside from some obvious exceptions), he still remains heavily involved in the curation of playlists for the Tidal music platform — even as he sells his majority ownership stake to Square and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. In a recent Twitter spaces town hall about the upcoming deal, he boasted about his playlist prowess, challenging listeners to assemble a better compilation than he can.

“I found so many songs, my playlist game is A++,” he bragged. “I challenge anyone out there. I’m definitely in the top tier of playlist creators.”

Over the past several years, he’s made an effort to prove it, most recently putting together a list celebrating his onetime rival Nas — the only rapper with whom he’s worked in the past year — a 2020 year-end list highlighting the bar-heavy favorites that sustained him in a year of COVID, and the protest-themed “Songs For Survival 2,” which tapped into the rebellious energy of the summer 2020 uprisings against police brutality.

Elsewhere during their chat, Jack and Jay discussed the overlaps in music and Square, and how related tools like CashApp can help artists (as well as being name-checked by them in a rapidly increasing number of songs). “The things that Square and Cash App were doing is pretty much aligned with what one does with their own brand,” Jay noted. “You create a business, take out a small loan, get the things you need to help you be successful and build it out from there. So our conversations just naturally aligned.”

DaBaby’s JAY-Z Collabo Wish Gets Blasted By Twitter

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North Carolina rapper DaBaby isn’t winning fans over with his dream of securing music icon JAY-Z for a massive collaboration. The Internet has responded to DB over his dream of clocking in studio time with Young Hov. DaBaby’s JAY-Z Collabo Wish Gets Blasted Baby initially went to his Twitter page to throw up the idea […]

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TIDAL Is Properly Celebrating JAY-Z’s ‘Reasonable Doubt’

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Music mogul JAY-Z‘s Reasonable Doubt has some serious respect being placed on its name. The hip-hop icon’s unforgettable debut album is getting all its flowers courtesy of people responsible for its creation reflecting on the 25th anniversary. TIDAL Is Properly Celebrating JAY-Z’s Classic According to streaming giant TIDAL, fans will be able to take a […]

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A Judge Has Blocked The NFT Of Jay-Z’s ‘Reasonable Doubt’ Album

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The controversial NFT based on Jay-Z’s debut album Reasonable Doubt has been blocked by a judge as the lawsuit against Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash continues. According to The Hollywood Reporter, U.S. District Court Judge John Cronan granted a temporary restraining order to Roc-A-Fella after the label sued Dash on June 18 over his alleged attempt to sell virtual ownership of the career-launching record.

Dash said that he wasn’t trying to sell the rights to the album, but his partner in the endeavor, SuperFarm, announced the NFT auction “of Damon‘s ownership of the copyright to Jay-Z’s first album Reasonable Doubt. This marks a new milestone in the history of NFT’s, entitling the new owner to future revenue generated by the unique asset.” The auction, which was set for June 23-25, was canceled after the label sent a warning letter to SuperFarm, but the label pursued additional legal action against Dash out of concern he’d attempt another sale on his own. Dash says he was trying to sell his Roc-A-Fella stake, not the rights to Reasonable Doubt.

U.S. District Court Judge John Cronan sided with the label during a hearing this morning, noting Roc-A-Fella owns the copyright to the album. The lawsuit will continue, but the sale will not — for the time being. Incidentally, it was a dispute over the publishing rights to Reasonable Doubt that ultimately caused Dash’s initial split with Jay-Z when Dash refused to sell Jay the album masters after the latter was offered a role as president of the parent label Island Def Jam. Jay offered to turn down the role in exchange for the masters, but ultimately took the role and kept the rest of his catalog after Dame’s refusal, causing a rift that led to the demise of Roc-A-Fella at the height of its success.

Reasonable Doubt is also at the center of another lawsuit; Jay-Z is suing the photographer who shot the cover for the album over control of his images.