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