Barack Obama Reveals His List of Best Books and Music in 2017
The former president of the United States, Barack Obama, continues his tradition of sharing his list of favorite songs and books released or read from the previous year.
On New Year's Day, Obama went on his official Facebook page to continue his tradition of revealing his favorite books and music which he listened to or read in 2017. As he mentioned, it was a practice he had started back when he was still in the White House.
"During my presidency, I started a tradition of sharing my reading lists and playlists. It was a nice way to reflect on the works that resonated with me and lift up authors and artists from around the world," Obama told his more than 55 million Facebook followers. "With some extra time on my hands this year to catch up, I wanted to share the books and music that I enjoyed most."
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Obama added that the list consists of music "that got [him] moving" and books that told stories that "inspired" him.
Multi-Grammy award winner and hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar remained in Obama's list with his song "Humble" from his 2017 album titled "Damn." Back in 2015, Lamar's "How Much a Dollar Cost" also made it to the former president's list of favorite songs, which he confirmed in an interview with People the following year.
Meanwhile, for 2017, Lamar was joined by other rappers including Chance The Rapper for his single "First World Problems" that also featured Daniel Caesar. Hip-hop mogul Jay-Z also made it to the list for the song "Family Feud" that was recorded with his wife, Beyoncé.
British pop artist Harry Styles and Camila Cabello were also part of Obama's list for their songs "Sign of the Times" and "Havana," respectively. The former POTUS also made special mention of the unreleased Bruce Springsteen song "Born in the U.S.A." which Obama heard in Broadway.
Meanwhile, for the books section, first on Obama's list was Naomi Alderman's "The Power" -- a science fiction dystopian novel focused on telling the story of women who had the ability to produce electrical jolts from their fingers.
