playlist curation

Barack Obama’s Year-End Playlist: Does He Listen To It All?

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Barack Obama is a cultural icon. The former President stays busy all year long with multiple recommendation lists for the people, including books he read, movies he watched, and songs he had on repeat. However, some have been skeptical about Obama’s wide range of reading, watching, and listening. Some speculate he doesn’t create his own playlist, that someone else listens to these songs and curates them. Not only are the selections so broad, but they also suggest a TON of listening.

Can Barack Obama consume this much content in a year? Believe him when he says: He does it all himself. Comedian Hasan Minaj interviewed the previous POTUS for half an hour on a number of topics, including his end-of-year lists. With emphasis, Obama definitively squashed the rumors of cultural fraud: “…[T]he fact that my lists are, you know, pretty incredible — people seem to think, well, he must’ve had some 20-year-old intern who was figuring out this latest cut. No, man! It’s on my iPad right now.”

Read more: Barack Obama Shares Favorite Songs Of 2022 Featuring Beyoncé, SZA, & More

Barack Obama’s Current Lifestyle

Once you’ve done “the big job,” life can become what you want it to be, in a way. For Barack Obama, this means going to events, consuming a ton of new content, and accepting fun interview requests. Minaj gets deep and wide in the interview above, asking Obama about depression, doom-scrolling, and his take on Andrew Tate. With classic Obama wit and a grumbly, loving uncle demeanor, he brushes off any “controversy” that he doesn’t curate his own playlist. Last year’s list had all-time hits like Kendrick Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5” and Bad Bunny’s “Titi Me Pregunto,” as well as “Last Last” by Burna Boy and “Pull Up” by Koffee.

We might need to give Barack Obama more street cred. Impressively, he and his wife, Michelle Obama, wrote a letter to rapper Cordae following his Emmy win last year. Their daughters are part of the hip-hop scene as well. Malia Obama created a short film for Donald Glover’s (Childish Gambino’s) production company. Plus, he’s never shied away from being a true man of the people. Barack Obama’s track record should be enough for us to trust his tracklist.

Read more: Trump Never Invited The Obamas Back To The White House

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Ebro Claps Back After Akademiks Accuses Him Of Blackballing DaBaby

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Ebro finally responded after Akademiks accused him of blackballing DaBaby, among other artists in the genre.

LONG BEACH, CA – NOVEMBER 03: DJ Akademiks attends 2018 ComplexCon-Day 1 at Long Beach Convention Center on November 3, 2018 in Long Beach, California. (Photo by Earl Gibson III/Getty Images)

Akademiks charged at industry executives in the past week in the wake of his comments towards hip-hop’s pioneers. Ak said Ebro was gatekeeping at Apple Music. As a result, Ak claimed Ebro prevents some of the most notable figures in rap from getting playlist placements.

“Da Baby’s last project in 2020, Blame it on Baby, sold 124K first week. His new project after being blackballed by Ebro, Apple Music is scheduled to do less than 20K,” DJ Akademiks tweeted on Wednesday. “Now yall understand my Ebro convo… DSPs control who is hot and who is not. Fall out of favor with them… UR DONE.”

In response to Akademiks’s comments, Ebro noted that Apple Music isn’t the only platform. He also called out the inconsistent argument that radio, DJs and platforms are to blame when an artist loses their momentum.

“Funny shit when artists get hot it is always how they built this themselves and the fans. When shit slows down it is radio, DJs, platforms, and the label. #BlameEbro is back for a whole new generation,” Ebro responded.

Ebro added that DaBaby should be able to get a few looks from Spotify, a platform that hosts Ak’s Off The Record podcast.

“Apple Music is not the only platform,” he continued. “Based on this dummy’s logic, Da Baby should be doing well on the platform HE works for. Is it?”

Finally, Ebro pointed out that Hot 97 allowed DaBaby to perform at Summer Jam, despite the controversy. Then, he added that he’s catching heat from the same people who’ve accused him of being irrelevant.

“Im confused… Im old and irrelevant. No one listens to my shows. But why am I always being brought up by people who are “more powerful” and “doing more for the culture” as the reason things don’t perform? Somebody lying!!

Still, Akademiks pushed back against Ebro. “If you weren’t the Global Head of Hip Hop and R&B for Apple nobody would mention u breh… It aint like n***as is reacting to u for shit u say or ur radio show. U just dont like that now ppl can c beyond the veil of these playlists esp at apple.. & u the n***a responsible for it,” he added.

“I gotta loud this issue up now.. it aint bout one artist… I remember when ppl use to say .. man its only 69 we dont like him anyway.. . then it was oh… its only Tory.. we dont fw him either.. now its YB, etc and the list keep getting longer. Stop the Blackballing,” he added, clarifying that he isn’t loyal to any one artist.