“Funky Kingston,” the title track from Toots & The Maytals definitive albums of the same name makes Barrack Obama’s 2023 Summer Playlist. The song which was also the last track on the “I Am Bolt(Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” was first released 50 years ago in 1973 on the album.
The former president posted the list on his social media with the caption: “Like I do every year, here are some songs I’ve been listening to this summer — a mix of old and new. Look forward to hearing what I’ve missed.”
Like I do every year, here are some songs I’ve been listening to this summer — a mix of old and new. Look forward to hearing what I’ve missed. pic.twitter.com/H2Do2iaD1p
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 20, 2023
The song which is about the working class conditions of the people in Kingston, Jamaica has surpassed 58 million streams on Spotify.
Initially released in Jamaica and the United Kingdom around March/April 1973 on Dragon Records, a subsidiary label of Island Records, the album “Funky Kingston” was released the United States in 1975 through Mango Records, and Island subsidiary. Interestingly, the US version featured the same cover and title but was compiled from three earlier Maytals albums by Danny Holloway, an Island Records employee.
This US edition peaked at #164 on the Billboard 200 chart and was even recognized as the eleventh best album of 1975 in the annual Jazz & Pop poll. The American version of “Funky Kingston” further garnered praise when it secured the 378th position on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003, rising to 380 in a revised list in 2012 and 344 in another revised list in 2020.
The Maytals who had a rich history of producing hit records in Jamaica during the 1960s, with their single “Do the Reggay” may have given reggae its name. However, when “Funky Kingston” was recorded at Dynamic Sound Studios in Kingston in 1972, reggae music was not widely known outside of Jamaica, except among music enthusiasts. A 1973 review in International Times even referred to the music of “Funky Kingston” as “Jamaican rock’n’roll.”
The awareness of reggae started to shift in 1972 with the release of the influential film “The Harder They Come,” which became a cult hit in the UK, featuring two Maytals songs on its soundtrack. Taking a cue from this exposure, producer Chris Blackwell tailored the Maytals’ music on “Funky Kingston” for the international market, setting the stage for reggae’s global rise.
After being in Barack Obama’s playlist for seven consecutive season, Koffee did not make this year’s picks. The Grammy kid’s lead single from her debut album Gifted however made Obama’s top songs of 2022. Koffee album subsequently became the most streamed reggae album released last year according to data obtain by WMV from Luminate.
2019 was the first time the 44th President of the United States ncluded Koffee’s turntable hit “Toast” from her Rapture Ep to his favorite music of the year. That year “Anybody” by Burna Boy also made the list.
Pull Up was on Obama’s summer list last year and that playlist also included Beyonce’s Break My Soul, Tems’s Vibe Out and Burna Boy’s Last Last.
Other songs to make this year’s list of 41 songs include Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holla) by Marvin Gaye, Sability by Nigerian acrobats singer Ayra Starr, Snooze by Sza and California Love by 2Pac, Dr. Dre.
