Barack Obama might have been president of the United States, but when it comes to music, he considers himself a loyal subject of Queen Bey.
As he has since 2015, Obama has listed his favorite songs, books and movies of the year. And topping the music list this year was Apes**t by the Carters (aka Beyonce and husband Jay-Z).
“As 2018 draws to a close, I’m continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books, movies, and music that I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved. It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors, artists, and storytellers – some who are household names and others who you may not have heard of before.”
Other songs that caught the president’s ear in 2018 include Khalid and Normani’s Love Lies, My Own Thing by Chance the Rapper, Mary Don’t You Weep (the piano and microphone 1983 version) by Prince, and jazz legend Nancy Wilson’s album The Great American Songbook.
Each of the lists is done in alphabetical order, so it’s possible he liked some song more than the Carters’ (though Beyonce has made several appearances on his lists through the years). For books, though, he made an exception, saying one was “obviously my favorite!” That book, of course, was Becoming by Michelle Obama.
Several other favorites seemed to have a political message. Included on the list was Hans Rosling’s Factfulness, How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, and In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History by Mitch Landrieu.
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The cinematic list is also an eclectic blend, ranging from Black Panther to the sci-fi/horror film Annihilation to the Mr. Rogers documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor?.
