The music industry is always buzzing with fresh talent and unique sounds, and right now, it’s all about Shaboozey, the genre-mixing sensation who’s shaking up the scene – and stirring romance rumours with model Emily Ratajkowski . {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Shaboozey has been smashing the boundaries of music genres.
Photo: @shaboozey/Instagram","url":"https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/09/60d8c424-2622-4a15-aefd-7e2b3a3c5659_a26c17fe.
jpg"} Shaboozey has been smashing the boundaries of music genres. Photo: @shaboozey/Instagram The breakout country star was reportedly spotted getting cosy with EmRata at a New York City club recently. They attended Nigerian singer Rema’s album release party at the club, holding hands and reportedly leaving together at around 1am.
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Shaboozey’s single “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” rocked to the top of the Billboard charts this year. Photo: @shaboozey/Instagram","url":"https://img.
i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/09/01ab4928-16b8-42de-b10d-4e8efac3a84d_01da4914.jpg"} Shaboozey’s single “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” rocked to the top of the Billboard charts this year.
Photo: @shaboozey/Instagram Aside from sparking a media frenzy and dating rumours, Shaboozey is quickly making his mark on the music industry. For years, Black musicians have been pigeonholed into hip-hop and R&B , but trailblazers like Shaboozey are smashing those barriers. His main groove might be country, but he seamlessly blends in other genres, showing off his incredible range and paying homage to Black musical legends.
His hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”, a clever twist on J-Kwon’s 2004 hit “Tipsy”, shot to No 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, dethroning Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em”, and making history as the first time two Black artists topped the chart in consecutive weeks since 1958, according to Billboard. From his background to his career goals, here’s everything we know about Shaboozey. Shaboozey’s stage name is a clever twist on his surname {"@context":"https://schema.
org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Shaboozey took on a stage name after people kept mispronouncing his real name. Photo: @shaboozey/Instagram","url":"https://img.i-scmp.
com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/09/74cfa379-f330-43c4-9844-5255d1284573_7390c88c.jpg"} Shaboozey took on a stage name after people kept mispronouncing his real name. Photo: @shaboozey/Instagram Collins Obinna Chibueze, better known as Shaboozey, shared in a chat with New Wave Magazine that his catchy stage name is actually a twist on his last name, which originally means “God is King” in the Igbo language.
People kept mispronouncing it, so he decided to just run with it. What is Shaboozey’s background? Shaboozey told NPR that, while he loves his home state of Virginia, leaving was essential for his growth as an artist. “I had to leave to get to where I’m at right now,” he said.
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Shaboozey with Post Malone, another genre-bending rapper. Photo: @shaboozey/Instagram","url":"https://img.
i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/09/1835c5db-7b75-4842-84be-4a0d80d8f146_d7491f3d.jpg"} Shaboozey with Post Malone, another genre-bending rapper.
Photo: @shaboozey/Instagram In a chat with GQ, Shaboozey shared how, with both his parents hailing from Nigeria and his dad being an immigrant, his love for country music comes partly from his home nation’s agricultural scene. “Agriculture is a big thing over there,” he explained. The 29-year-old spent part of his childhood at a boarding school in Nigeria, which immersed him in diverse cultural experiences and strengthened his connection to his Nigerian heritage, per Okay Africa.
Did Shaboozey always want to get into music? {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Shaboozey has been musically active for a decade. Photo: @shaboozey/Instagram","url":"https://img.
i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/09/deee8467-f6ea-47cf-8f8f-a77e1b6628ec_d7491f3d.jpg"} Shaboozey has been musically active for a decade.
Photo: @shaboozey/Instagram Shaboozey’s journey to music started with a dream of being a novelist, as he revealed to Harper’s Bazaar. “I was always telling stories, always trying to find ways to create something,” he shared. Shaboozey’s career took off during the SoundCloud rap boom.
According to his IMDB page, he dropped his first single “Jeff Gordon” in 2014, but his debut album, Lady Wrangler , with 11 tracks, wasn’t released until October 2018. The Washington Post reports that he moved to Los Angeles in 2018 and signed with Republic Records. By 2021, Nashville executive Eric Hurt had signed him to Empire Records.
His Beyoncé collaboration brought him worldwide fame Shaboozey’s rise has been a decade in the making, but this year has been a game-changer for him. Not only did he drop his third major-label album in May, he was a stand-out on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album , featuring on both “Spaghetti” and “Sweet Honey Buckiin’”. The collaboration marked a major career milestone.
Shaboozey had plenty of positive words for Queen Bey, too. “I definitely noticed how hard she works day in and day out,” he told E! News. He teamed up with Duckwrth for a song in a Spider-Man film Shaboozey also hit a high note in 2018 when he collaborated with rapper Duckwrth on the song “Start a Riot” for animated blockbuster Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse .
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Shaboozey (right) says he draws inspiration from a diverse range of artists. Photo: @shaboozey/Instagram","url":"https://img.
i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/09/64d27a22-5a2c-44e7-9750-eb15cd9f77d1_095c17fb.jpg"} Shaboozey (right) says he draws inspiration from a diverse range of artists.
Photo: @shaboozey/Instagram Shaboozey’s unique music style defies easy categorisation, making him one of the most intriguing artists around lately. Speaking to New Wave Magazine, he shared how he draws inspiration from a diverse mix of artists like Chris Stapleton, the Rolling Stones , John Prine, Colter Wall, Kanye West and many more. “I like to think I’m carving my own lane, disrupting what the normal sounds and looks like in today’s contemporary music,” he said.
Shaboozey recently sparked dating rumours when he was reportedly spotted with model Emily Ratajkowski at a club in New York City – the pair held hands and left together at around 1am The artist draws inspiration from The Rolling Stones and Kanye West, shot to fame with his catchy single ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ and featured in two tracks on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album.
