Barack Obama Says His Daughters Think His Dancing 'Is Better' Than His Rapping

Barack Obama Michelle Sasha Malia
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Plus, the former POTUS reveals the one JAY-Z song that inspired him throughout his presidency campaign.

Barack Obama may be the former president of the United States, but when it comes to his two daughters -- 22-year-old Malia and 19-year-old Sasha -- they're just as embarrassed of their dad as any other daughter.

Last week, 59-year-old Obama gave his social media followers the chance to ask him questions about his Renegades: Born In The USA podcast with Bruce Springsteen. On Friday, Complex posted a video of him answering their specific question, which was an inquiry about whether he has one rap verse he can recite by heart. Obama is a well-known rap fan, citing his love for artists like Kendrick Lamar and JAY-Z.

"First of all, Complex, you do not want to hear me rap," he joked. "When I have tried to rap, my daughters have rolled their eyes, covered their ears. They think it's painful. They even think my dancing is better than my rapping."

That being said, Obama did mention a specific song that he loves, one that was played frequently on his iPod while he was running for president: "My 1st Song," by JAY-Z.

"It talks about the struggle of just trying to make it," he explained. "And sometimes you have to resort to false bravado, and hustle, and tamping down your insecurities. And when I was running for president obviously, you know at that point, I didn't know whether I was gonna make it. So somehow that inspired me."

He went on to recite a line from the song that still inspires him today.

"There was a line in there, 'Treat my first is my last and my last as my first, and my thirst is the same as when I came,'" he shared. "And, I actually kept on listening to that song during the presidency because it was a reminder that even when you do make it, you know, having a little bit of that sense of still being hungry, still having to work hard, still having to prove something, that that's what keeps propelling you forward. But, I'm still not gonna rap it."

ET recently spoke to Obama's wife, beloved former first lady Michelle Obama, where she talked about life at home with her husband and their two kids amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"We have our health and we are together as a family," she said. "And we're not getting on each other's nerves, so we count our blessings. We try to eat dinner together as a family every night. That's a pretty important ritual, so we usually have dinner at about 6:30, that's pretty regularly, and we have different kinds of foods."

Watch the video below for more.

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