Here are the 3 Nigerians who made Barack Obama’s favorite music of 2022 list

Former U.S. President Barack Obama listed his favorite 25 songs that made his 2022 playlist on Saturday. Three Nigerian artists made the list of the revered former president. Burna boy’s song ‘Last Last,’ Ayra Starr’s song ‘Rush,’ and Rema’s song ‘Calm Down,’ were among the songs featured on the playlist.

“I always enjoy sharing my end of year music playlist with all of you – and this year we heard a lot of great songs. Here are some of my favorites,” Obama tweeted. His tweet has generated more than 29.8 million views, 13.3K Retweets, and 12.4k Quote Tweets.

Thousands of his Twitter followers have reacted happily, with many suggesting other interesting songs from different artists. The tweet has generated lots of positive and negative reactions.

Rema, one of the artists on the playlist, excitedly tweeted his response,

@heisrema; “I feel the same way I did in 2019 when I saw my name on the list, I’m very grateful.” He ended his tweet with an emoji of hands folded in prayer, and a heart.

@JDevermont; “President Obama continues to show some love for Afrobeats.”

@olarenjuwa; “I love your music taste.”

Recall that in mid-2022, Obama, on his Instagram page, listed four Nigerian music superstars, Burna Boy, Pheelz, BNXN, and Tems in his ‘BARACK OBAMA’S 2022 SUMMER PLAYLIST’, with the words, “Every year, I get excited to share my summer playlist because I learn about so many new artists from your replies – it’s an example of how music really can bring us all together.”

Barack Hussein Obama II, a Black American, was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a Kenyan father and an American mother. Obama was the 44th president of the United States of America from 2009 – 2017 and the first African-American president.

Burna Boy

Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, known by his stage name Burna Boy, is a Nigerian afrobeats, reggae, dancehall, and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, born on July 2, 1991. 

Burna Boy rose to fame after releasing his song ‘Like to Party’ in 2012 and won the Best International Act at the 2019 BET Awards. In 2021, his fifth studio album ‘Twice as Tall’ won the Best World Music Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. 

On August 12, 2013, he released his debut studio album ‘L.I.F.E.’ His other studio albums are ‘On a Spaceship’ (2015), ‘Outside’ (2018), ‘African Giant’ (2019), ‘Twice as Tall’ (2020), and ‘Love, Damini’ (2022).

Rema

Divine Ikubor, popularly known by his music name Rema, is a Nigerian afrobeats singer and rapper who began his music career in his local Christian church in Benin City, Nigeria. Rema rose to fame with the release of his single ‘Dumebi.’ He signed on to a Nigerian record label, Jonzing World, a subsidiary of Mavin Records. 

In 2019, he won the ‘Next Rated’ award category at The Headies, and also won the ‘Revelation of the Year’ award at the City People Music Awards. In 2020, he won the ‘Best New Artist’ at the Soundcity MVP Awards. On March 25, 2022, he released a 16 tracks debut album ‘Rave and Roses.’

Ayra Starr

Oyinkansola Sarah Aderigbe is a Nigerian afro-pop and R&B singer known popularly as Ayra Starr. She was born on June 14, 2002. In August 2018, she started her career as a fashion model with a Lagos-based modeling agency, Quove Models. 

In 2020, she signed on to Mavin Records, where she released her self-titled debut extended play on January 22, 2021.