The Obama Foundation Made A Chicago-Themed Playlist, & It's Pretty Great

By Stephen Gossett in Arts & Entertainment on May 2, 2017 5:00PM

DJ Obama in public-address mode at a University of Chicago speech/panel discussion / Getty Images / Photo: Scott Olson

Former President Barack Obama will of course be back in his adopted hometown (at the venue where he married former First Lady Michelle, no less, the South Shore Cultural Center) on Wednesday. He'll reportedly be taking the wraps off a conceptual model design for his much-anticipated presidential center, in Jackson Park. More evidence that Obama Foundation has Chicago on the brain full stop: the foundation recently posted a Chicago-themed playlist, with submissions from current and former local heroes, on Spotify. No surprise, given Obama's tastemaking history, it's a damn fine collection.

Hometown: A Collaborative Playlist features spot-on submissions by Cameron Esposito (the JC Brooks version of "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart"), Brown Girls co-creator Fatimah Asghar (Ravyn Lenae's great "Moon Shoes") and—of course—Chance the Rapper (Kanye's "Family Business"—not the "Homecoming" sucker cut), who's also represented on the collection.

You can check out stories from the submitters, including how the hell a Tom Waits song ended up on there (blame Chicago theatre vet Nick Offerman,) here, and stream the whole thing below.