--- description: Watch some of the top five moments involving hip hop from Barack Obama's presidency. title: Watch President Obama's Top 5 Rap Moments image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ef28319d37f4a89/6988ab8ee20a8733d3a92f50/obama-jay-z-facebook.jpg?branch=production ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch President Obama's Top 5 Rap Moments by [Kenneth Bachor](/author/kenneth-bachor/) ## Kenneth Bachor Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 26, 2016 11:00 AM CUT  President Barack Obama meets with hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar, during an Oval Office drop by, Oct. 19, 2015. President Barack Obama meets with hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar, during an Oval Office drop by, Oct. 19, 2015.Pete Souza—The White House by [Kenneth Bachor](/author/kenneth-bachor/) ## Kenneth Bachor Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 26, 2016 11:00 AM CUT If there’s one thing that President Obama loves, [aside from broccoli](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/10170504/Barack-Obama-declares-broccoli-is-his-favourite-food.html "undefined"), it’s rap music. Obama has gone [on record to _Rolling Stone_](http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/obama-in-command-br-the-rolling-stone-interview-20100928 "undefined"), saying that his playlist includes hip-hop artists, such as Jay Z, Nas and Lil Wayne. Since Jay Z first campaigned for Obama in 2008, their “bromance” has been [well documented](http://www.mtv.com/news/1694108/jay-z-obama-bromance/ "undefined"). The popular rapper and business mogul has not only [been a guest at the White House](http://time.com/4274082/beyonce-jay-z-blue-ivy-white-house-easter/ "undefined"), as well as a guest at [the President’s second inauguration](http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/pictures/presidential-inauguration-2013-all-the-stars-and-celebrations-2013211/27691 "undefined") in 2013, where Beyoncé was invited to perform “The Star-Spangled Banner_._” In 2015, [“due to popular request,”](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/barack-obama-spotify-playlist/ "undefined") Obama teamed up with Spotify to release his summer playlist, which included songs by Mos Def and Erykah Badu. Earlier this year, the President [invited rapper Kendrick Lamar](http://www.newsweek.com/when-kendrick-lamar-talked-mentoring-barack-obama-414421 "undefined") to the White House to support his My Brother’s Keeper initiative, in order to raise awareness about the importance of mentoring for a PSA. It’s no coincidence that Lamar was Obama’s choice, the President has stated that [his favorite song of 2015](http://pitchfork.com/news/62469-president-obama-says-kendrick-lamars-how-much-a-dollar-cost-was-his-favorite-song-of-2015/ "undefined") was Lamar’s _To Pimp A Butterfly_ track “How Much A Dollar Cost.” From referencing Jay Z’s lyrics to dropping the mic at his final White House Correspondents’ Dinner, TIME looks back at President Obama’s best rap moments. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4544958/barack-obamas-rap-moments/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4544958/barack-obamas-rap-moments/"},"headline":"Watch President Obama's Top 5 Rap Moments","datePublished":"2016-10-26T11:00:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:37:59.846Z","description":"Watch some of the top five moments involving hip hop from Barack Obama's presidency.","url":"https://time.com/4544958/barack-obamas-rap-moments/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Barack Obama","Music","rap","White House"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ef28319d37f4a89/6988ab8ee20a8733d3a92f50/obama-jay-z-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kenneth Bachor","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kenneth-bachor/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ef28319d37f4a89/6988ab8ee20a8733d3a92f50/obama-jay-z-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. President Barack Obama is greeted on stage by rapper Jay-Z at an election campaign rally in Columbus","caption":"President Barack Obama is greeted onstage by rapper Jay-Z at an election campaign rally in Columbus, Ohio, on Nov. 5, 2012.","creditText":"Pete Souza—The White House","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4544958/barack-obamas-rap-moments/","name":"Watch President Obama's Top 5 Rap Moments"}}]}] ```