Key Takeaways
- The 2026 playlist includes more than 40 songs spanning Hip Hop, R&B, pop, and other genres.
- Drake, Tyla, Doechii, SZA, and BossMan Dlow were among the featured artists, prompting reactions on Instagram and X.
- Obama also shared his 2026 summer reading list, highlighting books by Tayari Jones, Elizabeth Strout, and Michael Pollan.
Barack Obama’s highly coveted summer playlist has returned for another year. On Thursday (July 30), the former U.S. president shared what he’s been listening to, loving, and, to some extent, putting the rest of us onto.
“Here are some of the songs I’ve been listening to this summer. It starts with a song Michelle [Obama] and I love by Glen Hansard, a great musician who passed tragically this week. Our hearts go out to his family,” Barack wrote on Instagram, referring to 2012’s “Song of Good Hope.”
BossMan Dlow’s “Motion Party,” Drake’s “Ran to Atlanta” collaboration with Future and Molly Santana, Tyla’s Zara Larsson-assisted “She Did It Again,” and October London’s “Make Me Wanna” all appeared on his 40-plus song selection. Doechii and SZA (“girl, get up.”), RAYE (“Where Is My Husband!”), Vince Staples (“White Flag”), Marvin Gaye (“Let’s Get It On”), plus Anderson .Paak (“Yada Yada”) were among the other artists who made the cut for his summer rotation.
How artists and fans reacted to Barack Obama’s 2026 summer playlist
“Babe, wake up. Obama just dropped his summer playlist,” one user hilariously wrote in the comments. GQ’s Frazier Tharpe argued that “Don’t Worry” would’ve been a better pick than “Ran to Atlanta” — an opinion we just so happen to share — while someone else joked, “The concept of Barack Obama listening to ‘Where Is My Husband!’”
Over on X, Noah Kahan, whose “Doors” made the list, quote-tweeted Barack’s post with, “I can finally rest.” Gabriel Jacoby wrote that he was “grateful” on his Instagram Stories, while Dlow commented, “It's A Motion Party, We Gotta Let Obama Innn.”
Inside Barack Obama’s 2026 summer reading list
For anyone who loves a good read — which we assume would be a lot of you if you’re reading this — Barack also shared his summer reading list on Wednesday (July 29). It included Tayari Jones’ “Kin,” Elizabeth Strout’s “The Things We Never Say,” and Michael Pollan’s “A World Appears,” just to mention a few. He also took the moment to shout out his recently opened presidential center, commenting, "And if you’re in Chicago, be sure to stop by the new Chicago Public Library branch at the Obama Presidential Center to check out some of my favorites!"