Jay Z may have been absent from the 2017 Songwriters Hall of Fame because his wife Beyonce was having twins, but that didn't stop former U.S. President Barack Obama form inducting him into the hall. Obama, appearing in a taped video, told the audience that he listened to Jay Z since he was a "young and hungry state senator." He also compared himself to the New York rapper, saying "nobody who met us as younger men would have expected us to be where we are today."