Former President Barack Obama is known for breaking out in song. His latest performance and showcase of his love of music was this week at a rally in Detroit in support of Vice President Kamala Harris for her 2024 Presidential campaign. Eminem, who was born and raised on the 8-mile in Detroit, introduced the former POTUS.
“I have done a lot of rallies, so I don’t usually get nervous,” Obama told the crowd. Crowd. “But I was feeling some kind of way following Eminem.” He broke out into some lyrics from Eminem’s 2002 hit single, “Lose Yourself.”
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“Now I notice my palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy,” Obama yelled.”Vomit on my sweater already, mom’s spaghetti. I’m nervous, but on the surface, I look calm and ready. To drop bombs, but I keep on forgetting.”
He laughed at the crowd, before saying: “Love me some Eminem,” he said.
Every year, Obama releases playlists of his favorite tunes per season. It’s always an eclectic list, ranging from classic soul, R&B, and even current hip hop. He’s shot down speculation in the past that he doesn’t listen to the songs on his playlists.
“I do [listen to each song I choose]!” Obama proclaimed, as if he’s giving the State of the Union address as reported by Consequence. “Listen. I am so glad that I have this opportunity. People, they believe the books and the movies, but the playlists, they somehow think — and this is mostly coming from young people like you — somehow, y’all think you invented rock ‘n’ roll. You invented hip-hop. And so the fact that my lists are, you know, pretty incredible — people seem to think, well, he must’ve had some 20-year-old intern who was figuring out this latest cut. No, man! It’s on my iPad right now.”
Eminem also gave his support of Harris, telling the crowd: “I also think that people shouldn’t be afraid to express their opinions, and I don’t think anyone wants an America where people are worried about retribution of what people will do if you make your opinion known. I think Vice President Harris supports a future for this country where these freedoms and many others will be protected and upheld.” The rapper noted that Harris has his vote this year.
Eminem also previously supported Obama’s political career. He endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket in 2020. The day before the last election, Eminem released an official campaign ad with “Lose Yourself” playing in the background, which he captioned, “One opportunity… #Vote.”
