President Obama has declared the month of June 2016 “African-American Music Appreciation Month” in a presidential proclamation. The full text of the proclamation calls African-American music “among the most innovative and powerful art the world has ever known.” The president also calls upon “public officials, educators, and people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate activities and programs that raise awareness and foster appreciation of music that is composed, arranged, or performed by African Americans.” This past April, Obama met with musicians like Nicki Minaj, Chance the Rapper, and Pusha T to discuss the “My Brother's Keeper” initiative. Before that, he met with Kendrick Lamar and shared that he thought To Pimp a Butterfly was the best album of 2015.