President Obama Released His Summer 2021 Playlist: A Breakdown

Former President Obama dropped his latest summer playlist this weekend. 

It's a tradition he has continued since leaving office and one people seem to look forward to every summer.

This years playlist spans 38 songs, and includes classic rock, mo-town, r&b, and some hip hop.

Let's break it down.

Starting off, how about one of the best 80's slow jam/sad songs ever? Simply Red - Holding Back The Years

Banger.

Next up, George Harrison - My Sweet Lord

Holy Moly what a sleeper. Best religious song ever? I think so. Long overdue for priests to start working into their Sunday morning sets.

Migos - Straightenin

Trash. This is the perfect example of trying to hard. 

There's no way Obama listens to this noise. Straight up pandering.

Silk Sonic - Leave The Door Open 

Now we're back on track. Possibly the best "pop" song released in the last 5 years.

The Stones were British but this song is America through and through. Jam.

Masked Wolf - Astronaut In The Ocean 

Sabrina Claudia - Frozen

Not going to lie. This one was completely new to me. Songs like 4 years old but I've never heard it before. This is more Obama's speed if we're being completely honest.

Stevie Wonder - If You Really Love Me

An absolute gem. Perfect song. One of the greatest artists of all time. Jam city.

Bob Marley - Exodus 

I bet if we got access to Obama's entire spotify account he'd have 2 or 3 playlists just for sparking up. 

Chicago - Does Anybody Really Know What Time It is?

One of my bucket list goals is to meet the remaining members of Chicago one day and pick their brains for 5 minutes. (I almost got to do this through my dearly departed friend Marty Gutilla who was extremely close with the band through their manager. R.I.P. Marty) One of the questions I'd ask is who got final say on song titles? They have some of the most unique and off the wall song titles. In today's day and age record label execs heads would explode if a band tried to submit shit like this. 

Fuckin banger. 

Jay - Z - Allure

Was there anything better than Jay-Z over a Pharrell produced track? God these were the fucking days. The Black Album was so damn good.

Roy Ayers Ubiquity - Everybody Loves The Sunshine

Don't tell me Obama hasn't smoked a ton of weed in his life.

Nezi - So Hard

So this girl has to be friends with Malia or something right?

Song just dropped. Nobody's ever heard of it, has like 2,000 plays on youtube. How the hell did this land on this playlist? Whoever Nezi is she's lucky AF.

Bob Dylan - I'll Be Your Baby Tonight

Not my favorite Dylan cut but to each their own.

J Cole - Neighbors

This is a controversial song stemming from the incident involving J Cole's shitbag neighbors calling police to his suburban house for absolutely no reason. It's definitely not "Can't Get Enough" but any J Cole track is a thumbs up in my book.

Brother Sundance Feat Bryce Vine - Text You Back

This is another one of those head scratchers. WTF is this doing on this list?

Michael Kiwanuka - You Ain't The Problem (Claptone Remix)

First off, Michael Kiwanuka is the man. As is Claptone. This song is a ten. Great selection.

Staple Sisters - I'll Take You There

BANG-ER

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - The Tears Of A Clown

One of the all time greatest songs. Smokey's voice. The lyrics. The flutes. Unreal record. Great selection.

Drake Feat Lil Baby - Wants And Needs

A Drake deep cut to round out the hip hop portion. Don't hate it.

Brandi Carlile - Speak Your Mind

Grinder musician getting some recognition here. Love to see it.

Ella Fitzgerald - Lush Life

Epic song featuring Duke Ellington on the keys. Would kill for pure music like this today.

So there's his list. Some eyebrow raisers for sure but all in all if we're being completely objective, a very solid list. 

I discussed it in detail with White Sox Dave and the "On The Guestlist" podcast guys this week. It was a pleasure finally getting to go on this show and shoot the shit about new music. I appreciate Dave finally allowing me on-

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0OuJzrXFNnYMpLaPfZldPY?si=mflzEiTsSmyzPn_VEzAoNQ&dl_branch=1

Here's my updated "New New" Playlist with all the best new music I've come across. All genres. If I'm missing out on something send it my way - dante@barstoolsports.com or drop it in the comments. 

POP

- Kid Laroi dropped a new single featuring Bieber and it's a heater. Great pop record titled "Stay"

- The Spice Girls released a previously unreleased 1995 track “Feed Your Love” in celebration of the 25th anniversary of "Wannabe".

- Shakira released a new single, "Don't Wait Up"

And she went on Apple Music to discuss it 

- In The Heights (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the #1 soundtrack in The United States after its chart-topping debut on the Billboard Soundtracks Chart.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0F3HOT0E0Jj2MSnPm6tq4n?si=yt9jAY2ZQlqkFF15yE1X5w&dl_branch=1

- Global superstar Tones And I has released her anxiously awaited debut album, Welcome To The Madhouse

https://open.spotify.com/album/5DVaT8HXcp9bbJh7p4dSpf?si=U3GY83ghR0GocMx63nPEyQ&dl_branch=1&referral=labelaffiliate&utm_source=1011lhiST9dX&utm_medium=Warner_Elektra&utm_campaign=labelaffiliate&nd=1

https://music.apple.com/us/album/1570898490?ls=1&at=1010lScM&lId=23105111&cId=none&sr=2&src=Linkfire&itscg=30440&itsct=catchall_p2&app=music&ct=LFV_db35b5dbc17b03a3073589fba2038643

- HAIM has returned with the new song “Cherry Flavored Stomach Ache,” a cut from the soundtrack to the upcoming Netflix original movie The Last Letter From Your Lover.

ROCK

- The Rolling Stones released a new live album, A BIGGER BANG LIVE ON COPACABANA BEACH. 

https://open.spotify.com/album/7fvR1o3KGJo6c88O6GtSNI?si=kGw24EbHQQyLLXsc8YSrYQ&dl_branch=1&nd=1

This performance featured the whole band in blistering form. Keith Richards claims it was one of their best shows they ever played - “Not that we’re unused to playing the biggest shows in the world, but I must say Rio did take the cake,”

- The White Stripes released a Deluxe Edition of White Blood Cells for Its 20th Anniversary. It features HD audio remasters of all the original songs joined by a full-length live performance of the album recorded at Detroit’s Gold Dollar back in 2001.

- An unreleased George Harrison song, titled “Cosmic Empire” has been unveiled. It's been 50 years since George Harrison released his landmark 1970 solo album All Things Must Pass, and to commemorate the milestone, Capitol and UMe will be putting out the album’s special 50th-anniversary edition later this summer. As a new preview, they’ve shared the previously unreleased track-

- Leon Bridges released a new song “Why Don’t You Touch Me”  off his forthcoming album ‘Gold-Diggers Sound’. 

- John Mayer has released his eighth studio album, Sob Rock.

Led by single “Last Train Home”, the LP serves as the singer-songwriter’s first full-length in more than four years since 2017’s The Search For Everything. The ’80s-inspired single marked new sonic territory for the rocker (“If you don’t wanna love me, let me go/ I’m runnin’ for the last train/ I’m runnin’ for the last train home,” he croons over bombastic synths), and arrived with a Cameron Duddy and Harper Smith-directed music video featuring a surprise assist from Maren Morris.

- The xx’s Romy dropped a new track combining two covers for “You’re Not Alone in the Rhythm of the Night”. Built from parts of Olive’s “You’re Not Alone” and Corona’s “The Rhythm of the Night,” Romy’s new cover is a stirring statement to those feeling lost and afraid. She recorded the track for Apple Music’s Home Session for Pride, and in a press release she said she chose these tunes because they remind her of “when I was about 17 and started going to Gay bars in London.”

- Iron Maiden unleashed their first new song in six years, “The Writing on the Wall”

- Courney Barnett released a new single, "Rae Street" featuring some great heartfelt lyrics and a hook that hits you right between the eyes, “Time is money, and money is no man’s friend”

- Margo Price has announced Live From the Other Side, a new audiovisual EP due out July 16th via Loma Vista Recordings. To preview the project, the country singer filmed a Late Show with Stephen Colbert performance featuring a new version of “Hey Child” with Adia Victoria, Allison Russell, Kam Franklin, and Kyshona Armstrong.

- Nothing But Thieves announced ‘Moral Panic II’ EP and shared a new song ‘Miracle, Baby’

- Tedeschi Trucks Band dropped "Tell The Truth" (Live at LOCKN' 2019)

- Cameron Crowe’s rock masterpiece, Almost Famous, celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. Keeping the festivities going into 2021, UMe is reissuing the film’s seminal soundtrack as a massive new box set.

The deluxe reissue marks the first all of the music featured in the film will be released together in one package. The expanded tracklist includes songs by Led Zeppelin, The Beach Boys, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, The Who, and Fleetwood Mac, alongside all of the material created for the film’s fictional rock group, Stillwater, which was written by Crowe, Nancy Wilson, and Peter Frampton.

- Blink 182’s Mark Hoppus has offered a new update on his battle with cancer, revealing that he is set to take a test this week “that may very well determine if I live or die.”

Nevertheless, in a tweet on Saturday Hoppus expressed confidence that he’ll “kick cancer’s ass directly in the nuts,” whether through chemotherapy or bone marrow transplants. Sending prayers Mark's way.

https://twitter.com/markhoppus/status/1414067237434974216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1414067258276540416%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fconsequence.net%2F2021%2F07%2Fmark-hoppus-cancer-test-update%2F

- To celebrate his 65th birthday on Friday, Tom Hanks assembled an hour-long DJ set of rock ’n’ roll deep cuts for Boss Radio 66, an independent online radio station.

For fans of ‘50s and ‘60s rock ‘n’ roll — or those who just have an affinity for Americana nostalgia in general — Hanks’ DJ set is a delight that testifies to his extensive knowledge of the era. His set extends far beyond the Elvis and Buddy Holly classics we’ve all come to know and love, making a great opportunity for some deep discoveries. “It’s gonna be a bitchin’ year! 66! A bitchin’ year!” Hanks jokes near the end of the episode, which was produced Johnny “Big Hand” Bartlett.

- Vance Joy has released the beautiful, stripped back version of his recent single “Missing Piece,” along with an acoustic performance video.

- The Bamboozle Festival announced its return in 2023 following an 11-Year Absence. The New Jersey festival, which became one of the premier events for emo bands and their fans during its run from 2003 to 2012, will return to New Jersey in 2023 for its first staging in 11 years. While few details have been announced, the event will take place May 5th-7th, 2023, at an undisclosed venue to mark the 20th anniversary of the first edition of the festival.

- Rise Against's "Nowhere Generation" became the band's first No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Hard Rock Songs tally. Song bangs

- Andy Williams, who was the drummer for Christian rock band Casting Crowns for several years, has died after suffering injuries in a motorcycle accident. He was 49.

- The Britpop icons Oasis have announced that their new documentary, Oasis Knebworth 1996, is coming to theaters on Thursday, September 23rd. The film’s release coincides with the 25th anniversary of the band’s legendary two-night performance at Knebworth, which marked the largest outdoor concerts in England’s history at the time. 

Why can these dickheads co-executive produce this film together but can't get the band back together for a handful of shows? 

- Gary Corbett, the keyboardist for Cinderella and KISS has passed away after a long battle with cancer.

HIP HOP

- Vince Staples dropped his long anticpated self titled album and it didn't disappoint. It's dark, and quietly macabre, highlighted by candor and resilience. 

Staples has called the album a “clarity moment for the listeners,” emphasizing its arrangement of the long-shared facts that are scattered across his discography. “I’ve heard a lot of my peers saying, ‘We want to know more about you,’ even though these topics are things that I’ve said before on previous projects. But I hadn’t gotten to the point where I had explained it well,” he told Cultured magazine.

https://open.spotify.com/album/2suR5CCbtL2Wq8ShFo8rFr?si=aNePnisoRXed9AAtrw1GAg&dl_branch=1

- Pop Smoke’s second posthumous album, Faith, is out this today via Victor Victor/Republic, and the late rapper is being honored with a star-studded array of featured guests.

The tracklist to Faith includes contributions from Kanye West, Dua Lipa, Pusha T, Kid Cudi, Pharrell, Lil Tjay, Future, 21 Savage, Migos’ Quavo, Takeoff, Swae Lee, 42 Dugg, Rick Ross, Kodack Black, Bizzy Banks, and more

- Nas dropped  "Life Is Like a Dice Game" feat. Freddie Gibbs & Cordae

- Dvsn and Ty Dolla $ign have joined forces for a new single, “I Believed It,” which features a verse from late rapper Mac Miller.

The song will appear on Dvsn and Ty Dolla $ign’s upcoming collaborative album, which will be released on OVO Sound on a date to be announced.

- J. Cole and Bas teamed up for a new single “The Jackie”

- We got a new single from Big Boi titled "Lower Case" featuring Killer Mike

- Nicki Minaj jumped on the temix of BIA’s “Whole Lotta Money”

--  Grand returns are the perfect remedies for lengthy breaks, and Dave provides one on his latest single, “Clash,” with Stormzy.

- Wave Chapelle dropped "Do The Most"

- Tyler, the Creator released his new album, Call Me If You Get Lost. Not my cup of tea, but a lot of people love him so here it is-

- Brent Faiyaz released a new single featuring Drake titled "Wasting Time" 

- Emerging Taylor Gang singer SK8 has teamed up with multiplatinum, GRAMMY-nominated rap icon Wiz Khalifa & EDM duo DVBBS for a new alt-rock infused anthem titled “Girl Next Door”

- Masked Wolf has unveiled his brand new single “Say So"

- Normani has enlisted Cardi B for her new single, titled “Wild Side.” 

- - Gucci Mane and 1017 Global Records’ Platinum-selling Pooh Shiesty have teamed up for “Like 34 & 8.” Paying homage to Shaq and Kobe, the track shows the dynamic pair collaborating again

- Last but not lesat, my good friend from high school, Matteo Urella published a book celebrating all things Wu-Tang Clan, "Deep In The Dark With The Art"

Deep In The Dark is 36 chapters celebrating the artistic offerings from Wu-Tang to the art community. With interviews from over 36 cover artists and designers – and chapter interludes with a variety of industry-leading influencers, academics and icons – Deep In The Dark is over 230 pages exploring the artistic and creative process of some of the best, most celebrated, most artistic Wu-related cover art.

With 100% of the profits going to More Than Words out of Boston, MA – a Boston-based nonprofit bookstore for at-risk youth – Matteo, Makai Forever and Deep In The Dark aim to impact the art world, Boston hip-hop, legions of Wu-Tang fans across the globe and the youth of Boston, Massachusetts.

EDM

- Swedish House Mafia announced their debut album ‘Paradise Again,’ and capped a near-decade release hiatus with ‘It Gets Better’

They went on Apple Music to discuss the project and the "return"

- RÜFÜS DU SOL have returned with a new single, ‘Alive,’

- GRiZ announced a new studio album and previewed a new single, ‘Rainbow Brain’

- My favorite producer in the game, Illenium, released his fourth studio album, Fallen Embers, 

- Chromeo dropped a new 20-track album recorded live during their pre-pandemic 2019 US tour, ‘Date Night: Chromeo Live!’ If you're for some reason unfamiliar with Chromeo, then get familiar. They fuck.

- Dr. Fresch and Glass Petals, Felix Cartal‘s side project, join forces on a new bass-house hitter, “The Answer.”

- Arty dropped a new single, ‘Fight For’

- Dvbbs dropped an alt-punk, emo-inspired new single. “Losing Sleep”

- Tycho teamed up with Death Cab for Cutie frontman Benjamin Gibbard for new single ‘Only Love’

- Dirtybird Campout to make triumphant return with 2021 lineup featuring Boys Noize, Tiga, and more

https://twitter.com/DirtybirdCamp/status/1414996598107475970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1414996598107475970%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdancingastronaut.com%2F2021%2F07%2Fwheels-up-dirtybird-campout-to-make-triumphant-return-with-2021-lineup-featuring-boys-noize-tiga-and-more%2F

- Rudimental have teamed up with Skream on ‘So Sorry’

- The Knocks follow their last single “R U High” ft Mallrat with melodic disco smash “Bedroom Eyes,” collaborating with international electro-pop group Studio Killers of viral global hit “Jenny.”

- Skrillex has shared a new video for his recent release “Butterflies” with Four Tet and Starrah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?src=Linkfire&lId=40fd2979-8a02-41c9-8582-b5f64fb351e6&cId=d3d58fd7-4c47-11e6-9fd0-066c3e7a8751&v=zliasEkWx0M&feature=youtu.be

- BLVD. returns to Purple Fly record label with a new notable collab. After releasing his single "Miami" with Fatman Scoop in May, the US-based producer is back with "Posterize" - a fusion of heavy bass/dubstep with rap/hip-hop rhythms in collaboration with Shaquille O'Neal (aka DJ Diesel) - the 15 x NBA All-Star and 4 x NBA champion

- Hero Haze released "Don't Ever Give Up"

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=QmtKpMt6MH8&feature=share

COUNTRY

- Umphrey's McGee dropped a new single, "Catshot".

https://open.spotify.com/album/7uqy3NXaGiYTMwJoixgEGy?si=WFoONbsfQemdFWCZ5BbtxQ&dl_branch=1

 (Fun fact - I actually opened a show for Umphrey's back in the day when Groupon was killing it in Chicago and used to throw pop up concerts for customers. It was at Lincoln Hall and we had a wicked bad summer thunderstorm that knocked power out in Lincoln Park. They decided to fuck the electric guitars and unplugged and just ended up doing an acoustic candlelit performance. It was pretty epic.)

- Flatland Cavalry dropped a new album, Welcome to Countryland

- Breakout talent BRELAND continues to make waves in Country music, enlisting superstar Keith Urban for the new collaboration, “Throw It Back.”

- Dustin Lynch is Country classic in a double shot of brand-new back-to-back Zach Crowell-produced releases, “Not Every Cowboy” and “Pasadena,”

https://open.spotify.com/album/57sekarw0Kf5BeS9dloyBL?si=3tWOF7xPSLi1oVLkC54vdw&dl_branch=1

- NEEDTOBREATHE just released the “Carry Me” featuring longtime friend Jon Foreman of Switchfoot

- Zac Brown Band drops not one, but two, new tracks with a little help by Luke Combs.

- Kevin Costner & Modern West is hitting the road for a music tour featuring the hits from Yellowstone.

- Here's "Heavy Like The Rain"

- Brothers Osborne cover Willie's "On The Road Again". I mean…

- DYK… Joe Rogan's voice appears on Sturgill Simpon's 2019 album in the intro of "Ronin"

- Jakob Dylan talked “Exit Wounds,” John Prine, and more with Dave Cobb on Apple Music Country

Thanks Augie

If I missed anything or you'd like to submit something shoot it over to dante@barstoolsports.com