Danny Brown has ribbed Barack Obama over his summer 2024 playlist, which includes a particularly hilarious pick in the eyes of the Detroit rapper.
The former president unveiled his annual summer playlist on Monday (August 12), with the 44-song selection featuring a typically diverse mix of Hip Hop, R&B, soul, rock, pop, jazz, reggae, afrobeats and other genres.
Among the rappers soundtracking Obama’s summer are GloRilla, Megan Thee Stallion, Gunna, Saweetie, Moneybagg Yo, Common, Digable Planets and Tommy Richman.
But the rap song that tickled Danny Brown’s funny bone was 2Pac‘s “How Do U Want It” thanks to its braggadocious, expletive-filled hook sung by K-Ci and JoJo.
“Imaging Obama singing the how do you want it hook got me dying right now,” the Bruiser Brigade MC wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
The 1996 hit, taken from ‘Pac’s All Eyez On Me album, includes the lyrics: “How do you want it? / How do you feel? / Comin’ up as a n-gga in the cash game / Livin’ in the fast lane, I’m for real.”
Imaging Obama singing the how do you want it hook got me dying right now
— Danny Brown (@xdannyxbrownx) August 12, 2024
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. I hope you find something new to listen to! pic.twitter.com/aL400Ctpde
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 12, 2024
Danny Brown isn’t the first Hip Hop figure to see the funny side of Barack Obama’s music picks.
When the 44th President of the United States shared his summer playlist in 2022, Vince Staples offered a similarly amusing reaction to his Mustard-produced song “Magic” making the cut.
Shortly after Obama posted his playlist on social media, the Long Beach rapper rolled through and replied: “Dead homies Barack,” a reference to the ad-lib he used in the song.
Vince also joked: “If I convince Obama to get put on the set y’all gon be mad ?”
Meanwhile, Danny Brown has been adding cultural commentator to his résumé for quite some time.
In recent years, he’s moved into acting, stand-up comedy, television, and podcasting — for good reason: the rap game can be rough on your wallet, as Danny demonstrated when he discussed JAY-Z, Kanye West and his song “Dip.”
The Detroit rapper revealed in an April episode of The Danny Brown Show that in order to use elements from a Hov and Ye track, he had to give up almost all rights to his own track.
Dip,” the first single from Brown’s 2013 album Old, interpolates a segment of the Watch the Throne duo’s “N-ggas in Paris.” As a result, Jay, Kanye and Hit-Boy and Mike Dean (as well as Reverend W.A. Donaldson, whose 1959 “Baptizing Scene” was sampled on “N-ggas in Paris”) all ended up as credited writers on “Dip” alongside Brown and producer Skywlkr.
The Bruiser Brigade boss talked to his buddy ScHoolboy Q, who was a guest on his podcast, about the details of the negotiation.
“With ‘Dip,’ JAY-Z and Kanye killed my ass,” he said. “They own that whole muthafucka. And that’s one of my biggest songs. I don’t get shit from that muthafucka!”
“I’ll never use a n-gga hook again, man,” he continued. “I learned my lesson, man. Skylar [producer Skylar ‘Skywlkr’ Tait] be mad at me to this day, like, ‘Yeah, that was one of the biggest ones, man. We fucked up.’ Because you know, he made that beat. We don’t get shit from that muthafucka.”