-We were lucky enough to have you on our show twice
while you were in the White House.
The first time was 2012 on "Late Night."
And then again in 2016, at the end of your presidency.
And I have to say that I saw a different
President Obama the second time around.
Because the first time around --
I don't know if you remember this, but we --
we did a "Slow Jam the News" bit.
And at the end, I go -- and it was great.
It was one of our best things we ever did.
And I said, "At the end, can you go like, 'Ohh, yeaah'?"
And you go, "Uh, no."
-[ Laughs ]
-I go, "Yeah, but, maybe, can you give like a little --
just a little like a ohhh."
And you go, "Yeah, no, I'm not going to do that.
I'll say, 'Oh, yeah.'"
And I go, "Okay, yep, absolutely right."
And by the way, those writers, Bashir and Diallo,
went on to do "Sherman's Showcase"
and "South Side." They're doing really well.
Like, the same writers that wrote "Slow Jam."
And they were so excited to write that for ya.
-That was -- one of my greatest pieces ever, by the way.
-Thank you. -I -- I loved --
I loved "Slow Jam."
-Thank you. I appreciate that.
-That was terrific. -That was fun.
And then, the end of your presidency,
we did another "Slow Jam."
And at the end, I wrote in a part where I wanted you to,
like, kind of stiffly say, "Like Rihanna,
we have to go to work, work, work, work, work."
And you go, "Why do you have me doing that?
Like, can't I go like, work, work, work, work, work"?
and I go "Stop. You cannot."
And I was telling you, no, no, no.
You're this close to leaving the White House.
You're not -- do not do that now.
You've been so perfect all the way.
No, do not -- we're not doing that.
And you go, "Okay. Alright. Yeah."
-Are you saying that that would have affected my legacy?
Because that is a jam and I know that jam well.
-[ Laughs ] No.
-So, I'm a little insulted... -Yeah, you should be.
-...that you didn't think I could pull it off.
-You should be. But I saved your legacy.
That moment in time and, hopefully,
that makes it in the second volume of the book.
That night, I also introduced you to Madonna.
Do you remember that?
-Yes, I do remember that. -And I will never forget this
because I go, "Madonna would like to meet you."
And you go, "Sure."
And we went over to see Madonna and she --
you know, she's so, like, tiny.
But she's, like, very like -- she's very flirty
and kind of just very, like, you know, she's Madonna.
She's very sexy.
And she was like, "Hello, hi."
And you go, all business, you're like,
"Hello. Pleasure to meet you."
I was like, "That's right. That's the way --
Michelle would be like, 'That's right. That's how you do it.'"
-You know what?
Don't think that you elected a fool.
-[ Laughing ] Okay. -I knew.
-Yep, you knew.
-I knew how to handle my business.
-[ Laughing ] Yeah, exactly.
We talked about music, and you were saying
that you were like an Earth, Wind, and Fire guy.
And then, you were talking about Dylan.
There's so many iconic music moments
in your White House history,
and you talk about it in the book.
And you'll even have a Spotify playlist based on the book.
I just thought we'd talk about a couple memories.
Beyoncé, "At Last."
-Beyoncé sang -- She sang at our inauguration.
That was our first dance with --
at the very first ball, and it was spectacular.
-I mean, her doing "At Last" -- And Michelle was dressed in
that white gown, and as I write in the book,
you know, she was just...special.
-Yeah. -Beautiful.
-Yep, just stunning. -Yeah.
-Bob Dylan -- I don't really remember the story.
Did he not talk to you or something?
-That's what happened.
He was Dylan-esque.
He's exactly how you wanted him to be.
-Yes! -So, you know, we --
I describe in the book, we have these concerts.
And they were really wonderful.
They'd be themed.
You know, so you had a Motown night or you had
a, you know, Broadway.
-Yep. -Or we had a poetry slam.
And, you know, we'd usually have kids
from the surrounding area come in,
and the artists would do workshops on music
or performance.
And then, they'd do rehearsals.
And so, by the time you actually had the concert,
you know, they'd been hanging around for a while.
There was a photo line.
Dylan's -- he skips all that, right?
Literally shows up a few minutes
before he's about to go on.
Comes on, on his trio.
Does this incredible rendition
of "The Times They Are A-Changin'."
-Gosh. -Beautiful.
-Yep. -Finishes.
Walks off the stage.
Stands in front of Michelle and me.
Does a quick nod, leaves. -He's out.
-That's it. -He's gone.
-And just mysterious, you know, has a little
kind of quirky smile on his face.
-Yep. -Perfect.
-Exactly what you want from Bob Dylan.
-That's what you want from Bob Dylan.
You know, you don't want him to be all, you know,
chatty and, you know, eating --
eating off the cheese plate and all that stuff, right?
-It wouldn't be real. It wouldn't be him.
-It'd disappoint ya. -Exactly right.
-Exactly.
-Where does your love for music come from?
-Well, look. I don't --
I don't come from a musical family,
but I think that partly because I had such a strange childhood,
right?
Mom from Kansas, Dad from Kenya, in Hawaii,
lives in Indonesia for a while, et cetera.
-That's an interesting playlist right there, yeah.
-Yeah. Well, exactly.
But what it also meant was
I was moving around a lot.
I was an only child till I was nine.
And so I think music becomes one of those things
that keeps you company.
And it becomes a way for you to connect with other people
and kids your age.
And so, you know, I still remember
the first two albums I ever bought with my own money, right,
Stevie Wonder's "Talking Book"
and Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road."
-Ah, phew.
-Pretty good choices. -Yeah.
-I have to say. -Fantastic ones.
-Yeah, and, you know, from that time forward,
I think music was just always, you know,
something I cared deeply about.
And Michelle and I, as I describe in the book,
I think used music as a way of reminding people of --
the magic of America is
we have all these traditions that we draw from,
that all get kind of jumbled up, right?
You know, you got country music and blues and rock 'n' roll
and gospel and hip-hop and, you know, reggaeton.
And all that stuff is this medley,
this blend of, you know, Irish folk songs
and African drums and, you know, all these different traditions.
And that, in some ways, is what makes America exceptional.
It's the reason why American culture exports everywhere.
Because people get a sense of "There's a piece of me in here."
-Yeah. -And so we thought it was
important to have that kind of music in the White House
as representing the kind of America we should want,
where everybody's, you know, part of the band.
-Yeah. -And everybody, you know,
gets to play and sing and make music.
-I agree with that because when I was growing up,
it was either like what are you into?
Are you into rock? Are you into pop?
Are you into classical?
It's like, there -- now, it's the -- this new iPod generation.
Or, you know, and where it's just like --
-Yeah. It's an example of --
of what I meant when I said these kids --
you know, they're better than us.
They're -- because they're drawing from everything, right?
-Yeah, legitimate -- like, honestly.
-They don't think in terms of categories.
You know, sometimes Sasha, you know, she's got, you know,
2 Chainz on and, then the next thing you know,
she's got an Elvis song on.
And then suddenly, it's, you know, Drake,
and, next thing you know, it's, you know,
some Rachmaninoff or something, and like,
"What are you doing?" -Yeah.
-But, to them, it all makes sense.
And I think that's an indicator
of how their hearts and minds
are more embracing of differences
and see the good in so many people.
-Speaking of Drake, he recently said that he'd love
to play you in a movie.
And you gave your stamp of approval.
What would your advice
would you give Drake in order to nail the performance?
What's the key to playing Barack Obama?
-Well, apparently, based on all the people
who do imitations of me,
the key is to talk really slowly.
-Why would anyone do that? That is offensive.
-And the...slower...
-[ Laughs ]
-...the more...
-Oh, my -- -...strange pauses there are...
-[ Laughs ]
This is what the audio -- -...in your speech...
-This is what the audio book sounds like.
This is unbelievable.
[ Laughter ]
The audio book is actually 365 days long.
It is living a year with you talking.
It is so great talking to you.
Congratulations, again, on "A Promised Land."
I really love speaking with you,
and I meant it when I said it. I miss you.