Questlove stopped by Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell and Bruce Headlam’s “Broken Record” podcast last week and revealed that former President Barack Obama likes French Montana.
And not just the radio-friendly Montana, the sometimes raunchy one, and Questlove told a story about a 2016 White House party that he DJ’d for. Quest described the Obama hosted-party as his ultimate “dream gig,” and it’s something he prepared 16 full weeks for.
He also said Obama came up to him in the middle of his set and wanted him to play Montana’s “Pop That,” featuring Drake, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne. It was after Obama told Quest the kids at the party weren’t having fun to his old-school jams, and they were just sitting around.
Plus, the 48-year-old described that particular party as wild and “debaucherous,” but he had trouble finding something for the younger ones to get crazy over.
“I became the DJ I hated,” said Questlove. “I’m like Googling, ‘Let me go to Spotify see what kids are listening to.’ I became that guy, the guy I hate the most.”
Then Obama tapped him on the shoulder.
“[Obama’s] coming up to me like, ‘Do you have French Montana?’” he recalled. “And I’m like, ‘Sir, I don’t have the clean versions of that.’ He’s like, ‘We’re all adults here. Play it.’ I’m like, ‘Sir, I’m not gonna play ‘Pop that p—y, b-tch, what ya twerkin’ wit.’”
Questlove also talked about that same White House party on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” last year, and he said things went so bad it made him quit DJing for six whole months.
And that was after Obama tried to give him a pep talk when he sensed the Philly native felt bad about how things went. You can hear him tell the funny story on the podcast above and on Fallon below.
