courtesy of Instagram/@barackobamaLife & Culture / NewsLife & Culture / NewsObama lists Cardi B and The Carters among his songs of 2018Along with books and films that inspired him this yearShareLink copied ✔️December 29, 2018December 29, 2018TextThom Waite If it wasn’t already clear, Barack Obama’s year-end lists – a tradition dating back to 2015 – pretty much cement the former president’s “cool dad” aesthetic. The Carters’ “Apeshit” makes the cut, as does Cardi B’s “I Like It”, giving us an upsetting reminder of what it was like to have a more forward-thinking figure in the White House. Other mentions on the list span many genres: there’s Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile, Chance the Rapper and J Cole, and “Mary Don’t You Weep” from Prince’s posthumous release, Piano & A Microphone 1983. On Obama’s “favourite movies” list are the wildly successful Black Panther and BlacKkKlansman, as well as The Death of Stalin, Eighth Grade, and If Beale Street Could Talk, among others. Particularly cute is Barack Obama’s mention of Michelle Obama’s Becoming on his book list – with the added comment: “(obviously my favourite!)” – but there are also new essays from Zadie Smith and David W Blight’s biography of Frederick Douglass, the escaped African American slave and leading abolitionist. He has also revisited older books too, though, such as Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s Grain Of Wheat and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, which get honourable mentions. Read the whole list in Barack Obama’s original Facebook post, or just the songs below. Expand your creative community and connect with 15,000 creatives from around the world.READ MOREOpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s plan to put AI inside our mindsWant to take a stand against ICE? Here’s how to minimise risk How to date when... you’re chasing your dreamsYoung people are leading a snail mail revivalGrok: Is it possible to escape getting ‘undressed’ by Elon Musk’s AI?Björk slams Trump, Denmark and colonialismA list of very serious pop culture predictions for 2026Our most-read sex and relationships stories of 2025The 21st Century: Q1 Review2025 was the year of the Gen Z uprisingThe 12 most anticipated novels of 2026 More and more men want to be pegged, according to Feeld