Barack Obama Delivers Moving Tribute To Jay Z At The Songwriters Hall Of Fame

.@BarackObama shouted out Jay Z for being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame; says Beyonce & M.O. are more popular than him & Jay pic.twitter.com/QTWL80hMQw

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.@BarackObama shouted out Jay Z for being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame; says Beyonce & M.O. are more popular than him & Jay pic.twitter.com/QTWL80hMQw
Victoria M. Walker (@vikkie) June 16, 2017

Jay Z became the first rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on Thursday night and he got one heck of an introduction.

Former President Barack Obama delivered a videotaped message heaping praise on the music mogul, whose real name is Shawn Carter.

Obama first congratulated many of the other inductees, including Kenneth Babyface Edmonds, Berry Gordy , Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Robert Lamm and James Pankow and Max Martin.

Then he got to Jay Z.

I like to think Mr. Carter and I understand each other. Nobody who met us as younger men would have expected us to be where we are today. We know what its like not to have a father around, we know what its like not to come from much, and to know people who didnt get the same breaks that we did. And so we try to prop open those doors of opportunity so that its a little easier for those who come up behind us to succeed as well.

The former commander in chief also made a crack referencing to their powerful partners, former first lady Michelle Obama and megastar singer Beyonc.

And lets face it, he said. We both have wives who are significantly more popular than we are.

Obama also spoke of listening to Jay Zs music throughout his career, from his early days as a state senator to preparing his final State of the Union address.

Im pretty sure Im still the only president to listen to Jay Zs music in the Oval Office, he said. That may change at some point, but Im pretty sure thats true now.

Check out the full message above.

Jay Z proved he could give as well as he receives. While he wasnt at the ceremony Beyonc is expected to give birth to their twins any day now he tweeted his thanks to all the people that have inspired me .

The rap star wasnt sparing with the praise, either: He thanked some 90 other artists including The Notorious B.I.G. , Tupac Shakur , Andre 3000, Nas , Lil Wayne , Queen Latifah and, of course, Queen Bey.

B a rapper too ! he wrote.

But Jay Z saved his best praise for a man he called the greatest rapper of all time.

Thank you 44 , he wrote to Obama.