I love Shaboozey. He’s a first-generation American, born and raised in Virginia! His song “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is one of the biggest hits of the year, dominating multiple charts and becoming one of the “songs of the year.” He received six Grammy nominations, including noms for Song of the Year, Best Country Song and Best New Artist. He also received two CMA nominations, and he was invited to perform at Wednesday night’s CMA awards show. Here’s his performance:
It was nice – he seemed nervous. He had good reason to be nervous – country music fans are notorious gatekeepers when it comes to Black country artists. The whole reason why Beyonce made Cowboy Carter is because she was disgusted by how the country music industry treated her when she performed “Daddy Lessons” with the Chicks in 2016. Eight years later, the response to Shaboozey showed that nothing has changed. From Rolling Stone’s “Shaboozey Deserves More Than What The CMA Awards Gave Him – Including An Apology.”
Shaboozey was on a high coming into the 2024 CMA Awards, having received two nods in his debut year as a nominee and a performance slot to showcase a mix of his breakthrough hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and his recent single “Highway.” But what should have been a night of celebrating country — a genre in which the 29-year-old musician has been a history-making force for the duration of the year — was plagued by microaggressions being played off as jokes. Shaboozey didn’t get the chance to take the stage in acceptance of either of his nods — New Artist of the Year or Single of the Year — but the singer-songwriter was offhandedly mentioned in the winning speech from a category he wasn’t even nominated in.
When Cody Johnson took the stage to accept the Album of the Year trophy for his record Leather, his producer Trent Willmon approached the microphone with a dull joke, quipping: “I got to tell you, this is for this cowboy who’s been kicking Shaboozey for a lot of years.” Social media users have noted that Willmon could have simply been making a play on the phrase “kicking booty.” However, that doesn’t necessarily explain why he felt comfortable playing word games with the name of one of the night’s two nominated Black acts.
Shaboozey was born Collins Obinna Chibueze to Nigerian immigrant parents. Growing up in Woodbridge, Virginia, he obtained his nickname-turned-stage name from a high-school football coach who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) properly pronounce his surname. “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 told Billboard earlier this year. Willmon’s unprovoked jab at the artist highlights the unfortunate normalization of Black culture being diluted in order to make it more accessible to people who won’t make a conscious effort to learn anything about it.
In the particular instance of the CMA Awards, poking fun at Shaboozey’s name had been normalized all night. During the opening monologue, co-host Peyton Manning segued from one sentence into another using the exclamation “Holy Shaboozey!” as a bridge between the two. Then, co-host Luke Bryan riffed on the success of “A Bar Song,” joking: “In Nashville, that’s what we call a Sha-doozey.” Manning promptly, and fittingly, responded: “That does not sound right at all.” Notably, each artist mentioned in the segment was shown on camera in the audience moments later. Shaboozey was not.
Later in the night, while introducing Shaboozey ahead of his performance, Bryan made another off-hand remark. Manning had just mentioned the reign “A Bar Song” has experienced at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, where it has spent 17 nonconsecutive weeks, when the artist added: “His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Shaboozey, must be so proud.”
I saw the clip of Trent Willmon’s speech and it felt menacing and racist. The endless jokes about his stage name… like, does no one understand the backstory? RS explains it – it is an anglicized nickname of his Nigerian surname. I would maybe – MAYBE – understand one joke about his name, so long as it was, like, a dad-joke about getting shaboozey’d at the CMA after-party. But the intention of all of these racial microaggressions was to otherize and menace him.
Shaboozey was nothing but gracious in the face of all of that CMA mess. He posted: “Couldn’t have ever in my wildest dreams imagined being here. I’m grateful for all of it…Win or lose, I’m blessed by something or someone that has a power beyond my understanding…I’m here today hopefully living in my purpose and if my music makes even the tiniest positive impact in someone’s life I can die with a smile. Country music changed my life and I’m forever grateful to it and for it.” He also posted this lovely photo with a direct message to Trent Willmon:
Ain’t nobody kicking me! pic.twitter.com/KLiMpBazBk
— Shaboozey (@ShaboozeysJeans) November 21, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- ELMONT, NEW YORK, USA – SEPTEMBER 11: Shaboozey arrives at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards held at UBS Arena on September 11, 2024 in Elmont, New York, United States.,Image: 907006344, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Shaboozey, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
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- 2024 iHeart Radio Music Festival Night 1 Red Carpet at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV,Image: 910318868, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Shaboozey, Credit line: Judy Eddy/Wenn/Avalon
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- 2024 Time 100 Next At Chelsea Piers Featuring: Shaboozey Where: New York, United States When: 09 Oct 2024 Credit: Roger Wong/INSTARimages
I love him. His songs are so genuine and he’s absolutely amazing. Those racist f&ckers just gave us a taste of what’s to come.
His album is so good! And I don’t know how he didn’t win single of the year given it’s Billboard run.
I will say that my fav niche genre of country music – before cowboy carter and tipsy- was the revenge songs.
It used to be – the dude bros are all “beer and guns” and the women were “I ruined his truck / poisoned him with my bff and I have no regrets”. And those songs had a lot of female rage in them and I adored it.
That said – racism was baked into the foundation of this country. We seemed to be moving forward in being able to have discussions regarding micro aggressions and how some things (gasp I know 🙄) aren’t for white people.
That seems so so long ago. And the racism that was always there – and just recently forced underground so that the racists wouldn’t feel “judged”- just took four shots of whiskey and shotgunned a red bull.
A bunch of jealous haters who only skin color and have no true sense of values. Just made up American values based in white supremacy. To hell with the CMA’s and a long and prosperous career to brother Shaboozey.
The egos of these white men are so fragile they had to spend the entire show publicly bullying one successful black man. Pathetic.
These are the things these guys say behind closed doors, and now they feel comfortable enough doing it on live tv with the person in the room. The racists are feeling REALLY emboldened
This 👆🏼 100%. I grew up in the south and when it’s only white people in the room, the masks come off and you will see there is some appalling racism…. They will get mad at a black person just for saying hello and smiling at them. Pretty sure some of those performers have been and will continue to be boiling with anger and letting the n word fly in the back rooms because Beyonce and Shaboozey dared to tread on “their” musical territory or show up for “their” awards show.
If I was Shaboozey, I was never going back to the CMAs.
Country music is by far one of the most – if not the most – toxic industries in this country. It’s only gotten worse with the country bros taking over too. Country music radio has a ton of insane control and while I want artists to make the music they prefer, I don’t wish that toxic stew on anyone. The music industry in general is pretty bad and always taking advantage of artists but there are aspects of country music that are on a whole other level.
Country music isn’t my thing, but I do not understand it’s gate-keeping at all. If you have the skills, the music should be your entrance ticket, not who thinks belongs. Beyonce got shafted. So did Lil Naz X. Now Shaboozey. Gosh, who isn’t supposed to be there according to Country music people? And two of those people, even I know, have had such huge country hits, the music topped hit lists outside of North America. This is unusual for Country.
It’s obvious the powers that be didn’t want him there so they most certainly weren’t going to give him any accolades, but they can’t ignore his impact. He had what is arguably the biggest song It’s obvious the powers that be didn’t want him there so they most certainly weren’t going to give him any accolades, but they can’t ignore his impact. He had what is arguably the biggest song in country music this year by objective measure.
I love his music and think he is so talented, and I was so sad that he had to endure the BS and play the politics of the country music industry despite the fact that he really isn’t even successful because of it. By that I mean his success isn’t because he is an industry darling that Nashville championed and comments like the producer made show how salty the gatekeepers are at his success. I watched how they responded to his performance, and I was like I would have been out of seat and this is the tepid response you are giving him? He knew he was walking into a lion’s den given how they treated Beyonce and I’m glad he kept his head up and just did his thing and kept it pushing.
This is not an industry that will do any sort of self-reflection or work to change things beyond the superficial, and unfortunately Black country artists like him and Mickey Guyton who is also Insanely talented (I heard her sing live and her voice is next level) know it sadly comes with the territory.
@LayDay I’m on Spotify listening to Mickey Guyton now. She appears a lot on Leanne Rimes 2022 album which makes me realize we haven’t had any Leanne gossip for a long time. She also appears on Orville Peck’s album. He’s fantastic I’ve seen him in concert. But he’s definitely not bro country. I think like so many genres there’s radio talent that gets promoted. But if Shaboozy’s song did so well where’s the excuse?? Maybe he attended and showed decorum to pave the way for the artists behind him.
@One of The Marys you are right it has been a minute on Leanne gossip. Hopefully that means she has mellowed out lol. Shaboozey had been doing his thing for a while but Beyonce elevated his music to another level for the masses and we know how they feel about her given their reception to her country album. I think gatekeepers look at it like he got big sneaking through the pop country back door riding Bey’s coattails, and a lot of them may not consider him “real country” sadly. I absolutely think he knew he had too, partly for that very reason.
Yeah, I watched his performance and the crowd was so serious. I saw Keith urban trying to sing along and a few others slightly swaying. I didn’t compare it to another performance so maybe they’re always like that?
Nope. Look up a video of when Justin Timberlake performed with Chris Stapleton. It was a good performance, but when you compare the fact that a boy bander, and pop artist was up there performing and their reaction to him compared to at that point a way more critically acclaimed Beyoncé, or Lil Nas X kind of hard not to see what the difference is.
Oooh okay. Thanks for confirming. I had a feeling but hadn’t checked out anything for comparison. Gross.
Whoops, my comment’s gone. I just wanted to add: YES, he and Beyonce and Lil Naz X all deserve apologies.
I’ve seen it first hand: country music fans are racist af. Not all of them, of course, but you’ve seen all those maga idiots on tv at rallies this year, 100% of them attend country music concerts.
The Nashville white dude-bro attitude is to tease the person of color (on national tv no less), not warmly welcome them. If the person in question complains, then they “can’t take a joke!”. It is so gross.
They’ll continue to nominate, and invite him, to show that they aren’t racist at all ( we promise !) and never let him win. And even though I doubt they bothered to know why he goes by that name, and how common it is for people without typical anglicized names to have to do that because people are too lazy to learn how to pronounce their name appropriately, along with the racial implications of that laziness it’s still just a lazy joke. Someone will laugh about you doing something witty with their name one time, but to keep doing it it just makes it annoying. David Letterman did that with Uma Thurman and Oprah at one of the Oscars he hosted, and I was a kid and even I was annoyed by the end with the jokes.
He embodies what country music/music in general should be about. What an amazing talent. Of course there are micro aggressions from a bunch of white Southern red neck jealous racists. It’s nothing new from America. I honestly had no idea who he was until now, mostly because I am not American or typically a fan of country, but I will be buying his work to support true art.
This makes me so mad. He’s so lovely and a bunch of them at the cmas are just racist f-ck heads. I’d say they’re making the cmas look bad but they don’t care. They’re like trump, wearing that racist flag for all to see and proud of it. And they’re jealous. He’s got a rich voice and they all wish they had were the ones who came up with that song, Tipsy. It’s a great country bar song. End of. They wish it was theirs.
Edit-sorry I meant they all wish they came up with that song. There’s a lot of jealousy and anger that the white guy didn’t come up with that song.
The only acceptable “joke” mentioned there was that the song was a Sha-doozy. That’s a dad joke right there. Everything else is unnecessary, and the fact that none of these people have any shame is awful.
Didn’t one of country bro’s advise Beyonce that she should come to Nashville and be country with them after she didn’t get any CMA nomination for Cowboy Carter? Shaboozey did everything right, still this is the respect he got from them. I am happy that Beyonce did her thing, gave us an amazing album and didn’t try to give anything to these a*holes who are trying to gatekeep the country music from black people. As Bey said, best revenge is your paper.
Asking for an apology is giving the CMAs too much credit. Leave this bunch of separatists to themselves. They’re already one rally away from joining the incoming regime and the less we see of them the better.
He deserves an apology, as does Beyonce, but it will never happen because mango has emboldened the racist f#ckers to behave publically how they have behave privately and this horrid behavior speaks to the magats. The genre really is dying with serveral dull, interchangeable white male artists on constant rotation on all the stations. Women, even bland big haired stereotypes, don’t even get a lot of airplay anymore. The failure to evolve and actual regression have destroyed the genre. I didn’t realize how far the genre and country music fans had sunk until Morgan Wallen was resurrected. He has no talent and the determination of the “fans” to rescue his career said it all. Dozens of artists are more talented, but aren’t open alcoholic racist messes. The racism spoke to them because it ain’t his musical talent.
Besides being stupid and racist, I think they’re also jealous that his music resonates with so many more people and is original and fun. It’s a breath of fresh air. Twangy pop, which is what most of these artists do, it’s not real country music, is so effing boring and unoriginal.
This to me too. There’s a v real jealousy factor.
There wouldnt be a problem with them making fun of his name if he was being treated like a new star. Instead they treated him like a joke. There was nothing in it for him.
There is no reason for him to ever go to that one horse award show ever again. I remember Carrie underwood making fun of Nikki minja and then coming out with a pop sing.
This is why the BET awards was so important and its why people didnt want white artists nominated. See.
As a long time fan of country music (but not the Industry itself), I believe Shaboozey is one of the most talented country artists in a long time. But this industry is so racist and sexist I can’t stand it. Do they have country awards at the BET awards? Shaboozey and Beyoncé and others should just ignore all the country “industry” award shows and only go to the BET awards
The BET Awards have become so cringe even Beyonce would not be caught dead there.
Wow. That was awful. They do owe him an apology, although if he gets one it’ll probably be along the lines of ‘just kidding, lighten up, man!’.
Have y’all seen an awards show before? EVERYONE gets made fun. (My favorite being Amy Poehler’s joke about James Cameron…the audience reaction is gold). As a POC myself, being treated with kid gloves when around mostly white people makes me feel even more alienated.