Barack Obama recently shared his list of favorite songs, movies, and books of the year. The former president has a healthy balance of all sorts of music. He's previously included artists like Jay-Z and SZA on the list -- the former made it again alongside Beyonce as The Carters -- but what may have shocked many was his pick of Jay Rock and H.E.R. While the two artists had a big year in 2018, to be included on Obama's year-end list of his favorite songs is a major accomplishment. Both Jay Rock and H.E.R took to Instagram to share their excitement.
Kendrick Lamar previously made Obama's favorite songs list of 2017 with "HUMBLE." but this year, he appears on the playlist alongside Jay Rock. Obama dubbed "Wow Freestyle" as one of his favorite songs of the year. Rock shared a screenshot of Obama's list on his Instagram, captioning the post, "WOW!!!! I appreciate the love Mr President @barackobama !!!"
H.E.R. also shared a screenshot of Obama's list on Instagram and thanked the president for the inclusion of her song "Could've Been" ft. Bryson Tiller. "Look mama i made it 😩 thank you @barackobama," she wrote.
Obama's playlist also contained Chance The Rapper and Joey Purp's "My Own Thing," J. Cole's "Kevin Heart," Cardi B's "I Like It" ft. J Balvin and Bad Bunny, Khalid & Normani's "Love Lies," and The Carters' "Apeshit."