As the end-of-year polls roll in, the White House has joined in the act, with the president and first lady naming their favourite tracks of the year. In an interview with the US magazine People, Barack Obama said his No 1 of 2015 was How Much a Dollar Cost by Kendrick Lamar, from his acclaimed hit album To Pimp a Butterfly.
The track sees Lamar rapping about encountering a homeless man in South Africa, assuming he wants money to buy crack and feeling resentful, before discovering the man is God. Which strongly suggests the president felt the need to emphasise his serious side – Fetty Wap’s Trap Queen, about cooking crack, might not have represented the White House so well.
Michelle Obama, meanwhile, emphasised the party, picking Mark Ronson’s Uptown Funk as her favourite song of the year.
The White House has been engaging with music this year, launching a Spotify account, thought so far it hosts only three playlists – one each for summer days and nights from the president, and one for the International Day of the Girl, from the first lady.
