Barack Obama inducts Jay Z into Songwriters Hall of Fame with beautiful video message

Rap mogul Jay Z became the first rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on Thursday, but what made the occasion even more special was that he was inducted by none other than the former president of the United States, Barack Obama himself.In a surprise video honoring the legendary rapper, Obama spoke on their mutual admiration and bond, “I like to think Mr. Carter and I understand each other,” Obama said. “Nobody who met us as younger men would have expected us to be where we are today. We know what it’s like not to have a father around. We know what it’s like not to come from much, to know people didn’t get the same breaks that we did, so we try to pop up those doors of opportunity.”

Obama then gushed over complementing their respective wives, while counting down similarities he shares with the Carton patron, “Jay and I are also fools for our daughters, although he’s gonna have me beat once those two twins show up, and let’s face it, we both have wives who are significantly more popular than we are.”The former POTUS further continued, “I’ve been listening to Jay since I was a young and hungry state senator. I sampled his lyrics to close my speeches at Selma. I tweeted a reference to ‘My First Song’ as I was putting the finishing touches on my final state of the union address.”


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“Jay, you have been inspiring, in making me wanna be active in my retirement just like you have been in yours. So, I’m gonna close by sharing something Jay once said that struck me, he said, “I’ve never looked at myself and said I that need to be a certain way to be around a certain sort of people. I’ve always wanted to be true to myself and I’ve managed to do that. People have to accept that.”

“And so with that, I’m proud to help present this award to a true American original, the first hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Mr Shawn Carter.”

Watch Obama speak on the legendary MC below:

The 21-time Grammy award winner was not present at the event, but his longtime music publisher and friend Jon Platt accepted the award on his behalf.

Other inductees of the 2017 ceremony for the Songwriters Hall of Fame included RnB legend Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, songwriting duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Max Martin, Berry Gordy and two members from the American Rock band, ,’Chicago’ – Robert Lamm and James Pankow.

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