Why didn’t Chappell Roan, Nelly, Sexyy Red or Tech N9ne make Obama’s music playlist? | Opinion

Toriano Porter
Photo illustration from USA Today Network file photo; Instagram/barackobama

I have an issue with former President Barack Obama. Does he not know the musical talent that has come from Missouri?

I listened to Obama’s 2024 summer playlist. A yearslong tradition, it has become one of the more anticipated lists in recent years for music lovers everywhere. While I enjoyed the mix of pop, rock, country, hip hop, R&B, Afrobeats and classic soul music, I couldn’t help but notice a glaring omission: Of the 40-plus songs on the list, not a single one was by a Missouri artist.

As Missourians, we all should feel slighted. Surely Obama isn’t holding a grudge against us because Missouri favored John McCain in the 2008 presidential election and Mitt Romney in 2012.

Obama speaks Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention. Keep your ears pealed for his walk-on music. It won’t likely be by an artist from our state despite the rich musical talent here.

Kansas City’s Tech N9ne is one of the most successful independent artists in music and none of his songs spanning decades appeared on Obama’s compilation. Tech’s 2015 smash “Hood Go Crazy” featuring Atlanta rappers 2 Chainz and B.o.B. was a Billboard Top 100 hit. And that’s just one option. The hometown hero has a plethora of other noteworthy jams Obama could have considered.

And how could Obama’s top list not include Chappell Roan, one of the hottest artists out right now? The Willard, Missouri, native’s “Good Luck, Babe” peaked at No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. At the start of the week, another of her singles, “Hot to Go!,” sat at No. 17 on the Hot 100 chart. The call and response vibe of this song is a perfect summertime jam suitable for anyone’s playlist.

Also absent is Roan’s 2020 release “Pink Pony Club,” one of the more popular songs trending at the moment on the social media app TikTok. In 2021, the entertainment news website Vulture labeled Roan’s slept-on hit the song of the summer. It has regained popularity thanks to Roan’s emergence as a bona fide pop star.

St. Louis native Nelly’s 2002 chart-busting hit “Hot in Herre” in noticeably missing. That song is a summertime staple — or at least it should be. The summer it was released, the record soared to the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 music charts and stayed there for seven weeks. “Hot in Herre” is considered the No. 1 summer song of the 2000s, according to Billboard.

Rapper Sexyy Red is perhaps one of the more successful artists to come out of St. Louis since Nelly debuted in 2000, and none of her recent hit records made Obama’s list. Her “Get it Sexyy” and “SkeeYee” are certified bangers. The former peaked this year at No. 20 on Billboard while Rolling Stone magazine ranked the latter as the No. 1 rap song of last year.

Another jam I like, “Rich Baby Daddy,” Sexyy Red’s collaboration with rapper Drake and singer SZA, was nowhere to be found, either.

This year’s playlist featured many tunes I love or discovered for the first time.

“With summer winding down, I wanted to share some songs that I’ve been listening to lately — and it wouldn’t be my playlist if it didn’t include an eclectic mix,” Obama wrote on social media. “I hope you find something new to listen to!”

A few of my favorite throwback selections on his list included:

  • “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” by Digable Planets

  • “How Do You Want It” by 2Pac featuring K-Ci and JoJo of R&B group Jodeci

  • “No Diggity” by Blackstreet featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen

Some of the songs I’d never heard but instantly liked included:

  • “Yayo” by Rema

  • “Chihiro” by Billie Eilish

  • “Love Me JeJe” by Tems

Even though artists from my home state were conspicuously absent from Obama’s latest playlist — Mizzou alum Sheryl Crow didn’t even make the cut, so there’s that. But there is a Missouri connection in one of the songs that did:

The Billboard hit “Bar Song” by alt-country act Shaboozey is an interpretation of “Tipsy” by St. Louis rap artist J-Kwon, who celebrated this year the 20th anniversary of his debut album, “Hood Hop.” That platinum-selling single peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Still, I wish Obama had thrown all of us a bone and added songs from some of our homegrown musical acts to his favorite summer jams.

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