Arizona State Representative's Spotify playlist was leaked and wow

Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari thinks Gracie Abrams’s music slaps.

“Risk” was Abrams's most-played song in the past year, 13 times, and “That’s So True” was her number three, 11 times. The site only shows her top three plays. These two tracks were rounded out with "Blessings" by Calvin Harris with Clementine Douglas.

How do we know? We got a little obsessed with peeping a recent website called the Panama Playlists. The site references the Panama Papers, the 2016 event when over 11 million documents were leaked, exposing some spotty offshore business dealings by rich folk.

This site is also an information trove about high-profile people, from politicians and journalists to tech and media execs, with a look at one essential aspect of their personal business: their Spotify playlists.

Like Ansari, Casey Newton's list is just his top three plays. The former Arizona Republic reporter who covered the Arizona State Legislature shows his number one choice, with 18 plays for the year, as “All You Children” by Jamie xx featuring The Avalanches.

Newton is fine being on the list and not at all surprised. “I knew my Spotify playlists were public, and as a former music blogger, I'm honestly delighted at the idea that anyone might scan my playlists looking for something to listen to.”
Newton, who, since his time in Arizona, has gone to California and founded the popular tech newsletter, Platformer, does have one issue: accuracy.

“My only quibble is that I found the stats on Panama Playlists out of date. According to stats.fm, which is connected directly to my Spotify, Chappell Roan is my number one for the year,” he says, adding that his conclusion on the whole matter is that “people should listen to Chappell Roan.”

While we can't confirm the accuracy of these lists, they offer some fun fodder. Imagine JD Vance in the kitchen listening to Biebs and Backstreet Boys while his Making Dinner playlist is cranked in the background. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri seems to like to get up in his feelings with tracks like "Famous Blue Raincoat" by Leonard Cohen and Leon Bridges' "River."

Two words: rabbit hole.

It offers no information as to who’s behind the gathering of this musical information. Still, with a cheeky edge, their tone says, we out here doing God’s work as they lean into the air of accomplishment at uncovering the favorite tracks of these well-known peeps.

“I found the real Spotify accounts of celebrities, politicians, and journalists. Many use their real names. With a little investigating, I could say with near-certainty: yep, this is that person. I’ve been scraping their playlists for over a year. Some individuals even have a setting enabled that displays their last played song. I scraped this continuously, so I know what songs they played, how many times, and when,” per the website.

“The Panama Papers revealed hidden bank accounts. This reveals hidden tastes,” it adds.