Obama welcomes Jay Z into the Songwriters Hall of Fame with a lot of love, a touch of shade

Barack Obama welcomes Jay Z into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter)

On Thursday night, Jay Z became the first rapper or hip hop artist inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, in a 2017 class that also included Motown founder Berry Gordy, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Robert Lamm and James Pankow of the group Chicago, and the reclusive earworm mastermind Max Martin, who wrote or cowrote a list of hits that includes the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way," Britney Spears' "...One More Time," The Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face," and Justin Timberlake's "Cant' Stop the Feeling!"

Jay Z (Shawn Carter) was not at the ceremony, apparently because his wife, Beyoncé, is expected to give birth to twins any day now, but he tweeted out his thanks to all the people who influenced him — including the man who introduced his award, "the greatest rapper of all time OBAMA. Thank you 44."

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He also threw in a little bit of self-deprecating humor, saying at one point, "Let's face it, we both have wives who are significantly more popular than we are," and an apparent dig at Jay Z's failed retirement: "You are inspiring in making me want to be active in my retirement, just like you have been in yours." Obama also threw a little shade at this successor, saying, "I'm pretty sure I'm still the only president to listen to Jay Z's music in the Oval Office — that may change at some point, but I'm pretty sure that's true now." Which, honestly, is a pretty good bet.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.