Obama Throws Shade At Drake Over Kendrick Lamar? Not POTUS’ First Music Beef
The third week of January was especially monumental for President Obama because he gave his last State of the Union address on January 12. It was noted by Vox that President Obama made several subtle political disses during the speech, but evidently Obama still had enough energy left to throw shade at Drake when asked to choose between the Canadian rapper and Kendrick Lamar.
Interestingly, this is not the first time that President Obama has taken time out of his busy schedule to imply that certain players are certainly not at the top of their game in the music business.
In the past, President Obama has made subtle disses toward musicians like Justin Bieber. Access Hollywood explained that Justin Bieber got a decline on an offer to have President Obama promote his new single “What Do You Mean” on August, 28, 2015. Allegedly, Obama told Bieber’s promotional team that “he’s got some other stuff he’s got to do.”
The NY Daily News claimed that on March 13, 2013, President Obama called out Kanye West on Jimmy Kimmel Live! for saying he “calls the home phone” of the president.
Alternatively, sometimes President Obama is pulled into a beef with musicians about things that have nothing to do with music. For example, musician Morrissey dissed President Obama over his annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon in 2013, according to Pitchfork.
Adding to this, Pitchfork points out in a separate article that it is not uncommon for President Obama to do a shout-out to rappers when he is promoting political events. For instance, during a White House Correspondents dinner speech on April 28, 2013, President Obama shouted out to Young Jeezy and raised an eyebrow at Jay Z visiting Cuba.
Moreover, President Obama’s team has given the public their takes on beefs between rappers. For instance, one of President Obama’s advisers commented about one of Meek Mill’s Twitter beefs with Drake on July 29, 2015, according to Business Insider.
As it appears, President Obama’s people were on Drake’s side during the Meek Mill drama on social media — but now President Obama has officially betrayed Drake for Kendrick Lamar.
The beef may have began on December 9, 2015, when President Obama declared that Kendrick Lamar’s “How Much a Dollar Cost” made his top of 2015 list, according to TIME.
Nevertheless, the declaration about Drake and Kendrick Lamar by President Obama began to draw shade on January 15 when Rolling Stone and others pointed out that President Obama actually confirmed his favorite rapper was Kendrick Lamar during a YouTube question-and-answer session posted by the White House.
https://youtu.be/Tjl8ka3F6QU?t=16m27s
At the 17-minute mark in the video, President Obama was prompted to choose between Kendrick Lamar or Drake in a rap battle and stated the following.
“Gotta go with Kendrick. I think Drake is an outstanding entertainer, Kendrick… his lyrics, his last album, was outstanding. Best album, I think, of last year.”
What does Kendrick Lamar think of President Obama? After visiting with President Obama in the Oval Office on January 10, Kendrick Lamar appeared to be impressed by Obama. Kendrick Lamar also said President Obama spoke to him about promoting the Pay It Forward mentoring program, according to Rolling Stone.
In the end, it is obvious that President Obama can definitely bring it on when it comes to music criticism, but does he have any rap game of his own?
As it appears, President Obama is clearly putting himself out there as a music lover, and has a curated Spotify playlist to prove it, according to the Telegraph.
On top of President Obama’s focus on music, Michelle Obama’s musical tastes also have a life of their own. For example, one of Michelle Obama’s priorities as First Lady has been to promote fitness with music.
https://youtu.be/fJT3b4urwcU
According to BET, this is why Michelle Obama worked with Jackie Warner in August of 2013 to create a workout song playlist on Spotify.
About the importance of hip hop for Michelle Obama’s fitness program, Let’s Move!, executive director and White House assistant chef, Sam Kass, stated the following.
“Kids are going to be dancing and listening to the music. I think hip hop in particular — so many kids love hip hop. It’s such a core part of our culture… and particularly in the African-American community and the Latino community, which are being disproportionately affected by those health issues.”
[Picture by Pool/Getty Images]
