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Barack Obama paid tribute to Jay-Z during the Songwriters Hall of Fame induction

“And let’s face it— we both have wives who are significantly more popular than we are.”

Laura Vitto

on June 16, 2017

Barack Obama has a few kind words for his friend and Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Jay-Z.

In a pre-recorded clip that played during Thursday night’s ceremony, the former president gave a brief tribute to Jay-Z, citing the commonalities that draw them to one another.

This includes, of course, that they "both have wives who are significantly more popular than [they] are.”

Victoria M. Walker of the Washington Post shared the clip on Twitter:

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Obama shared that he's been a long-time fan of Jay-Z's, and noted that he believes he was the first president to play the rapper's music in the Oval Office.

I sampled his lyrics to close my speech at Selma; I tweeted a reference to “My First Song” as I was putting the finishing touches on my final State of the Union address; I had to brush some dirt off my shoulders during a campaign. So, 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."

Though Jay-Z is the first rapper to be inducted, he was unable to attend the ceremony in New York, as Beyonce is widely rumored to have given birth to twins at some point in the past few days.

Per Variety, Jay-Z's grandmother, sisters and friends were in attendance, and his friend CEO of Warner/Chappell Music Publishing Jon Platt spoke on the musician’s behalf.

The rapper did, however, share a few words on Twitter: