One of 2024’s biggest breakout artists, the 29-year-old multi-hyphenate artist has turned my question around and back on me, his composed poker face concealing a whirlwind of emotions he’s experiencing.
We’re talking the day after September’s MTV Video Music Awards, where he received two nominations (including best new artist) and attended the star-studded afterparty where he mixed with celebrities like Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter, so it’s obvious that he’s exhausted. A few hours later, he traveled to Brooklyn to film his Billboard cover, which featured Chris Stapleton and Zach Bryan on the soundtrack. We’re having lunch at a hotel restaurant right now, where Shaboozey has finally settled down with some fries and half a dozen oysters from Prince Edward Island.
The VMAs were merely the most recent high point in a year filled with the kinds of accomplishments that most musicians hope to experience throughout their careers. In a year where his breakthrough performances on Beyoncé’s culturally transformative Cowboy Carter (on “Spaghettii” and “Sweet * Honey * Buckiin'”) were only the start of his impressive run of accomplishments. It was the year Shaboozey embarked on his own headline tour across North America after serving as backup for Jessie Murph’s tour. a year in which his single “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for an unprecedented 12 weeks. And this could be an even bigger year if “A Bar Song” receives probable Grammy nominations for record and song of the year; if its accompanying album, Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, which is topping the Billboard chart, receives nominations for album of the year and best country album; or if Shaboozey himself is considered for best new artist.
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Fundamentally, Shaboozey, also known as Boozey to his pals, radiates the cool calm of a rebel who has always known that his unconventional strategy will bring him success. Even yet, the country’s most popular new cowboy acknowledges that he doesn’t always “feel prepared for this stuff.” It kind of throws you into it.
With the release of “A Bar Song,” Shaboozey achieved a goal he had been pursuing for ten years: becoming the first legitimate Black outlaw country artist. According to Luminate, the song has amassed over 771 million official on-demand US streams. Collins Obinna Chibueze, an artist, was raised near Woodbridge, Virginia, as the second child of four siblings and the son of Nigerian immigrants. Shaboozey spent the majority of his life in Virginia, including his high school years, when his football coach misspelled his surname, which became his moniker and current stage name. He did, however, spend two years at boarding school in Nigeria.
Growing up as a Nigerian American in Woodbridge, a suburb of Washington, D.C., which was much more rural in his boyhood than it is now, he admits that growing up there might be “a little confusing at times.” Most Black children of immigrants are familiar with such experiences (microaggressions, really), and some are also familiar with another phenomenon that marked Shaboozey’s childhood: the endless words of support from parents who understood the importance of reminding their children of their power in a society actively trying to strip them of it. “Hearing your name [mispronounced] during attendance was always a thing; you felt like you had to make it easier for everyone else to understand,” Shaboozey said. Shaboozey, whose last name in Igbo means “God is king,” says today, “I’m going to make sure I’m damn good at anything if I’m going to do it.”
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Shaboozey’s upbringing in Virginia, the birthplace of legendary musicians like Patsy Cline and Missy Elliott, also meant that she was constantly conscious of the connections between many musical genres and styles. He found himself listening to his father’s playlists, which introduced him to country music icons like Kenny Rogers and Don Williams. “Apart from MTV and BET, I wasn’t getting the specific names of the artists my parents spoke about and played around the house as a kid,” claims Shaboozey. “To me, it was all just music.”
Not only did he take to the music his father played, but he was also captivated by the vintage look of his father’s pictures. In all the pictures I saw of him, he was always wearing Wranglers. He consistently offered “young country guy,” Shaboozey remembers. American culture and its archetypes are exported to and imitated in almost every country in the world, from Wrestlemania to Westerns. However, the majority of cowboy-related media primarily showcases white guys, which may seem out of place to individuals who identify with the diverse past of cowboy culture. Shaboozey intended to create a special soundtrack just for these individuals.
Shaboozey arrived to Los Angeles at the age of 19, his first real relocation outside of Virginia, with the intention of creating screenplays, producing films, and recording music. Shaboozey is a big fan of NASCAR. Shortly after, in 2014, he scored his first quasi-viral moment with his piano-trap banger “Jeff Gordon.” At the same time, he was studying the folk roots of Bob Dylan and John Prine and delving into the catalogs of rock icons like AC/DC and The Rolling Stones.
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He states, “I discovered that country music was the thing that really resonated with me in that [period of] discovery.” “Being from Virginia, I adored their manner of living, style, and topics of conversation. Everything appeared to be pretty calm. More significantly, Shaboozey started to see that Lil Wayne and Rogers might be complimentary rather than antagonistic influences. It seemed like I could be real. At last, he realized, “This is who I am.”
Shaboozey’s initial attempt to release a country album failed miserably. He had teamed up with writer-producer Nevin Sastry for Wrangler two years prior to the release of his 2018 debut album, Lady Wrangler, which is now on hold.
When Shaboozey and Sastry first met in 2016, they clicked so quickly that Shaboozey moved into Sastry’s flat a month later. Shaboozey chose to set Lady Wrangler aside before finishing the “more rap-adjacent” song because “something in my head told me, ‘The world ain’t ready for this,'” he adds. He was, in a way, correct. A few months before Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus rewrote the rules of country, pop, and hip-hop with 2019’s “Old Town Road,” and following the release of “Daddy Lessons,” Beyoncé’s first attempt at country music, which was rejected by the Recording Academy’s country music committee for the 2017 Grammys and for which she performed with The Chicks at the 50th annual Country Music Association (CMA) Awards, one of the most contentious moments in the event’s history, came Lady Wrangler (released on Republic Records).
Shaboozey remembers, “The rap we looked at on TV was always glamorized.” That was not everyone’s reality, though. I couldn’t make music in that universe, try as I may. I discovered that listening to country music could impart the idea that life’s simple pleasures are truly valuable. It’s sufficient to simply own a functional truck that you may drive your significant other to a cliff to watch the sunset.
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Though Sastry and Shaboozey have now worked together on all three of the star’s full-length albums, Shaboozey was able to secure a record deal with Republic and release Lady Wrangler thanks to the success of his 2017 song “Winning Streak,” a hazy trap fantasia gilded in Western aesthetics. After the publication of that record, Shaboozey was dropped by the label (he has not disclosed why; at the time of writing, Republic had not responded to a request for comment). Shortly afterward, the coronavirus pandemic altered Shaboozey’s life trajectory. When Shaboozey and Abas Pauti got to know one another in 2020 while playing basketball with mutual friends, Pauti offered to move across the nation as soon as Shaboozey told him that Virginia was the place he “needs to be in order to be the artist he wants to be.” Pauti’s show of dedication led the then-rising star to appoint Pauti as his manager.
They stayed in Los Angeles, and the next year, following a strong presentation from Eric Hurt, vice president of A&R publishing, Nashville, at the label, Shaboozey signed to independent label EMPIRE, which had previously collaborated with Black country singers including Billboard chart-topper Kane Brown. Regarding her initial thoughts about Shaboozey and his music, EMPIRE president Tina Davis remarks, “We understood what he was trying to do and we loved it, but obviously, it wasn’t anything that was out at the moment.” It’s an emotion you experience when [certain] artists enter your life. It feels as though the room’s air is leaving. His presence was so abundant and conspicuous that I could sense he was headed somewhere.
Standing at approximately 6 feet 4 inches tall, with broad shoulders and long hair, Shaboozey is a Black man with dark skin who takes pride in his racial identity. He has a captivating presence in every space he walks into, without being overbearing. However, Sastry notes that his usually expressionless visage can mask the “manic, creative energy” that resides beneath it, which he used to refine his sound and approach for his second and third albums.
Shaboozey collaborated on Cowboys Live Forever with up-and-coming producer Sean Cook (who was responsible for Paul Russell’s “Lil Boo Thang”), working with whom he wrote three songs in three days. Cook, who subsequently co-produced “A Bar Song,” says, “In the studio, he likes to ride on music.” “Sometimes he’ll get on the mic and I’ll loop the guitar, and he’ll freestyle melodies and conceptualize lyrics.” On his most recent album, Cowboys Live Forever, Shaboozey enhanced his narrative-driven, cinematic soundscapes that straddle hip-hop and Americana-steeped country, while also sharpening his country bent. At other times, he’ll sit in the booth and write the song as he goes.
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The result of that genre-neutral strategy was “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which became the longest-running Hot 100 No. 1 song in 2024. Shaboozey’s desire to flip an aughts song led to the writing and recording of “A Bar Song” in November 2023, near the close of the Where I’ve Been sessions. The song, which interpolates J-Kwon’s 2004 smash, “Tipsy,” didn’t even require a final mix to be recognized as a hit by those who heard it. Pauti texted Jared Cotter, a Range Music partner who joined Team Shaboozey as co-manager in 2022, as soon as he arrived in the studio the night Shaboozey recorded the song, saying, “We got one.”
For her part, Davis of EMPIRE was so taken aback by the song right away that she changed her focus from finishing the album to removing the “Tipsy” interpolation. J-Kwon, whose song “Tipsy” peaked at number two on the Hot 100, was ecstatic about Shaboozey’s country version of his song, according to Shaboozey, who says, “He was listening to the record for three weeks straight, not clearing it because he thought the song was already out.” The song “A Bar Song” became the first by a Black guy to concurrently top Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay once J-Kwon eventually cleared the tune. It is also the longest-running No. 1 debut country hit since Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus, Take the Wheel” in 2006.
While “A Bar Song” was released subsequent to Shaboozey’s two appearances on Beyoncé’s famous Cowboy Carter, the whistling track had a crucial role in assisting him in obtaining those highly sought-after features. The crowd appreciated Shaboozey’s performance of the then-unreleased song so much that he played it again on Range Showcase Night at Winston House in Venice, California, in early 2024. Cotter and Pauti claim that Ricky Lawson, one of Beyoncé’s A&R executives, was present in the audience and recognized right away that Shaboozey would be a wonderful fit for the record the singer was working on at the time. Shaboozey claims he was first only asked to write for Cowboy Carter. However, after recording a few verses, Beyoncé asked him to do so. One of those verses featured his freestyled outro from “Spaghettii” (featuring Linda Martell, which peaked at No. 31 on the Hot 100). He also made an appearance on “Sweet * Honey * Buckiin'” (No. 61).
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Cotter refers to it as the “Beyoncé bump,” which motivated Shaboozey’s team to move up the release date of “A Bar Song” to April 12 by a few weeks. “We wanted to be closer to Cowboy Carter’s release and be able to capitalize [on the exposure] with what we thought was a hit in this world of virality and quick hits,” Cotter explains. “A Bar Song” overtook Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” at the top of Hot Country Songs early in its enormous run, making the duo the first Black artists to achieve back-to-back No. 1s in the chart’s nearly 70-year history.
“Seeing a genuine talent like Shaboozey triumph feels amazing,” a Parkwood Entertainment representative for Beyoncé tells Billboard. “The world now knows that he is, and always has been, a clear sense artist. His dominance in the country music scene is a victory for all Black musicians who have been skillfully practicing their profession for a considerable amount of time.
“A Bar Song” helped Shaboozey reach significant milestones even as it came to dominate the summer. He performed for the first time at the BET Awards in June, when J-Kwon joined him for a wacky, saloon-set mashup of “A Bar Song” and “Tipsy.”
“I feel like country music wasn’t really accepted in that space as much traditionally,” says Shaboozey, who, along with Chris Brown in 2020, became just the second Black male solo country performer to play the BET Awards. “I even had the feeling that, whether it was self-judgment or just my own insecurity, ‘Is this thing really connecting with people?'”as I’m singing the tune. My greatest worry is that, especially when I feel uncomfortable in this environment. However, I aim to use my music to shock listeners and demonstrate the advancement of music.
Rappers like Quavo, French Montana, and Skilla Baby all praised Shaboozey and J-Kwon’s performance and reached out to him after the gig or during the days that followed. Shaboozey says again, “I love hip-hop; I’m a part of their community, too,” and he’s not wrong.
Shaboozey’s choice of featured musicians for Where I’ve Been shows that he is as much of a hip-hop artist as a country music star. Shaboozey could promote songs from this album that don’t appeal to country audiences, but he doesn’t currently plan to. Dallas rapper BigXthaPlug appears on the fiery hip-hop party track “Drink Don’t Need No Mix,” while Texas country-rocker Paul Cauthen helps bring the house down on “Last of My Kind,” ESPN’s new Atlantic Coast Conference college football anthem. Cotter emphasizes, “Shaboozey is a country artist; that is what he is passionate about.” It’s evident that artists are not limited to a specific genre. The first person who can truly sing and rap in both hip-hop and country music is Shaboozey. That will undoubtedly be promoted since that is who he is. We’re not trying anything novel here.
Davis continues, “[Shaboozey] is a little bit of everything.” That is what sets him apart from the rest of them. I believe Taylor Swift demonstrates that you can experiment with and push various genres rather than being limited to just one.
However, Nashville’s top businesspeople haven’t been as accepting of Shaboozey’s typically genre-neutral style or his presence. According to Davis, “They kept wondering if his album had other country songs or if it was just going to be one song and then all of a sudden, he’s a street thug.” “I believe it’s both [his appearance and sound].” Of course, you would swear he was acting differently if you saw him strolling by and he wasn’t wearing cowboy boots and a belt buckle. Shaboozey acknowledges that he’s “definitely a new artist in [the country] space,” but he says he now feels accepted by Nashville and promises that his “next project is going to be even more country, even more dialed in.” “I think it’s just the stereotype of what people see, but having those conversations and sharing the whole album made things a little bit easier,” he says.
Additionally, Shaboozey has gained traction with the country music community, particularly at two country music awards ceremonies. He received 12 nominations for the People’s Choice Country Awards and two nominations for the CMA Awards (new artist and single of the year). Along with Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter of The War and Treaty, Shaboozey is just one of three Black performers nominated for the latter ceremony. Shaboozey admits that “there’s a weight that comes with it,” adding that Michael personally called to congratulate him and acknowledge that “Man, it’s just us.” (Notably, Beyoncé and Cowboy Carter were left out of the CMA nominations; Shaboozey claims that “all I know is that she made a great body of work and I know she’s proud of that.]
Shaboozey has found affinity with Lil Nas X, and the crossover popularity of “A Bar Song” has drawn similarities to “Old Town Road,” another country-rap song that caused quite a stir back in 2019. Shaboozey, who made a connection with Lil Nas at the VMAs the night before, calls Lil Nas “the homie.” “I can tell what’s happening to me right now is probably very similar to what he experienced, even though we haven’t had deep conversations.”
Shaboozey described the VMAs as a “fishbowl” situation in which he was conscious of strangers observing both Lil Nas and him, waiting for them to speak and acknowledge the intersection of their experiences. Everyone seems to be asking, “Do they know?”,” he jests. Even though the VMAs aren’t strictly genre-specific, Shaboozey thought there was a gap in the audience’s perception. With a sardonic grin, he remarks, “I love the VMAs, but sometimes it felt like they weren’t there for me, to be honest.” He also mentions how some audience members were almost embarrassed to applaud him after demanding to see more pop singers in the top 40. “But what’s important is that more Black people and those working the event showed me love,” the speaker said.
But he is aware that all of these award presentations are only a lead-up to the Grammys in February. Shaboozey is expected to compete not only for best new artist, record, and song of the year for “A Bar Song,” but also for best country song and best country solo performance. Shaboozey’s team confirms that it will submit Where I’m From and its songs in the country field. According to Pauti, the campaign includes stops at “the right looks,” including The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (where he recently performed his new single, “Highway”), a sit-down interview with Gayle King, and an intimate L.A. performance. Should he win a trophy in the country field, he would become just the fifth Black act to do so, joining Charley Pride, The Pointer Sisters, Aaron Neville, and Darius Rucker, who tells Billboard, “We’re fortunate to have Shaboozey in country music.” Presenting and getting to know Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy.
Shaboozey remarks, “I think it’s something for me to bring home to everybody,” in reference to his probable maiden Grammy victory. This is the highest point on the mountain in terms of recognition. This is a long-standing ritual with a rich history and tradition that, perhaps, we can bring home. That worry from childhood of never being successful still exists. Winning one of them would be the greatest thing ever, but even if it didn’t work out, our year was insane. It will arrive if not now. We are now in the club.
“The Grammy Awards will always hold significance for me,” declares Ghazi, the creator of EMPIRE, who traveled to Nashville several years prior to meeting Shaboozey because of his dedication to a future devoid of genres. “I never lost sight of that journey—from being a 14-year-old making my first records to now being a seasoned executive, and the Grammys never [lose their] luster.”
Shaboozey is finishing off his last few French fries when I look at the man across the table from me. He looks like a classic gunslinger, even though he’s now chilling in the booth of a Brooklyn restaurant. There is something almost lyrical about the last oyster he picks up. It would have been nearly unthinkable a few years ago to see someone like him at the pinnacle of country music, but here he is, redefining markers of purported authenticity and giving them the swagger of the modern hip-hop gangster. With a voice and demeanor influenced by Stanley Kubrick, Garth Brooks, and Juvenile, Shaboozey is a unique 21st-century interpretation of Marty Robbins, a real outlaw who has successfully changed the laws of a territory that is rightfully his to recapture.
Like any true renegade, Shaboozey maintains eye contact while stating his point: “I’m just making music I love.” “Recognition is great, but I make music for a community that is underrepresented in general. I will continue to do that. Being that man is beneficial since those are the ones that are remembered.
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