Obama's Favorite 2023 Beyoncé Song Sparks Major Buzz

Has Barack Obama formally identified himself as a member of the Beyhive? Some people think it's been confirmed with the release of his year-end favorite music, which he posted on Instagram, since the list included a song by Beyoncé for the second year running. For 2023, it's the remix of Beyoncé's "America Has a Problem" featuring Kendrick Lamar, and that choice kicked off plenty of reactions on social media. 

For some, it showed Barack Obama in a good light. "Wow, Obama's playlist is fire! Shows his taste in music is as classy as his personality. Way to set the vibes, Mr. President!" wrote one person on X, formerly known as Twitter. But others weren't so happy, thinking it was a bad look for him to have a favorite song with that title. "No way he sets the problem and liked America has a problem as his best song," posted one critic.

Of course, for those in the know, the song isn't about the state of the nation. As a Beyoncé fan noted on an X post about Obama's choice of "America Has a Problem," "Just by reading the replies I can tell who actually hasn't listened to this song." The title does indeed seem like it's teeing up a song that will be politically provocative. However, the title seems to come from the Kilo Ali 1990 song that it samples from, and the song's content is focused on someone, seemingly Beyoncé herself, driving someone crazy with desire as compared to anything overtly political.

Considering all of the Beyoncé tracks he could have chosen to include on his year-end music list, some think that Barack Obama definitely chose that one knowing that it would spur a reaction — "America Has a Problem" even started trending on X as a result. "Lmao he knows what he did there," one person posted. Another person thought it was a good troll: "Obama names Beyoncé's song 'America Has a Problem' as one of his favorite songs in 2023 and everyone here thinks it's trending for political reasons. Gotcha suckers!" However, some did think it was a subtle political burn from Obama. "Barack been throwing shade ever since yall [sic] voted Trump in," one person posted.

Then there were those in the Instagram comments who doubted that Obama's actually listening to any of the songs, which is a common rumor when his yearly music lists get released. In an interview in 2023 with Hasan Minhaj, Obama confirmed he was really the one who put them together, insisting: "People seem to think, well he must have had some 20-year-old intern who was figuring out this latest cut. No man."

It would make sense for Barack to be a fan. Beyoncé and Michelle Obama have been friends since she sang "At Last" at the Obama's first inaugural ball. She came back for his second inauguration to sing The Star Spangled Banner." We love thinking of the Obama's joining us in the Beyhive.