Barack Obama’s Video Tribute To Jay Z Is Pretty Much Perfect

Barack Obama put on his presidential uniform—suit, tie, American flag pin—to record a special message for his friend Jay Z, who was just inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Obama began by mentioning some of the other inductees, like Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and Max Martin, but the former president saved all his praise for Jay. “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.” That’s fair to say, since one of them became one of the biggest rappers of all time, and the other one became the leader of the free world.

Obama also listed some of the similarities the two men share. “We know what it’s like to not have a father around,” she said. “We know what it’s like not to come from and to know people who didn’t get the same breaks we did, so we try to prop open those doors of opportunity, so it’s a little easier for those who come up behind us to succeed as well.” Take a second and realize what is happening here. A former U.S. president is drawing comparisons between himself and a man who once rapped that he has 99 problems, but a bitch is not one of them. 

Obama also mentioned their kids, saying that he and Jay are both “fools for our daughters, although he’ll have me beat once those twins show up.” As Vulture points out, this could have been Obama accidentally spilling the sex of the Knowles twins, or it could not. We’ll know soon enough. The most astute moment of Obama’s message came when he brought up the very real point that they’re not as popular as their wives. “And let’s face it, we both have wives who are significantly more popular than we are.” That is something that we, as a country, can definitely agree on. Watch the full message above.