Shaboozey

Shaboozey
Shaboozey performing in 2024
Background information
Birth name	Collins Obinna Chibueze
Born	(1995-05-09) May 9, 1995 Woodbridge, Virginia, United States
Genres	Country
Occupation(s)	Singer rapper songwriter
Years active	2014–present
Labels	Empire

Collins Obinna Chibueze (born May 9, 1995), known as Shaboozey, is an American singer and rapper. His music mixes country, Americana, and hip-hop. He became known to many people through the song "A Bar Song (Tipsy)", released in 2024. The song spent 19 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, tying the record held by Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" for the longest time at number one in chart history at that time.

In 2026, he won the Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for the song "Amen", which he made with Jelly Roll.

Shaboozey was born and grew up in Woodbridge, Virginia, in the United States. His parents are from Nigeria and belong to the Igbo ethnic group. His father grew up as a farmer in Nigeria and later went to college in Texas. His mother worked as a nurse.^[1]As a child, he liked hip-hop music videos on television. He also liked his father's cowboy style of clothing and love of country music.^[2]For two years of junior high school, he attended a boarding school in Nigeria. In 2013, he graduated from Gar-Field Senior High School in Woodbridge, Virginia. As a teenager, he planned to become a novelist. By the time he finished high school, he was also making some money from music and decided to take it more seriously.^[3]

His stage name came from a high school football coach who said his last name wrong. His family name, Chibueze, is an Igbo word meaning "God is king".^[4]In 2014, Shaboozey released his first song, "Jeff Gordon". He also started a film production company called V Picture Films that same year.

In 2018, he was asked to sing on the song "Start a Riot" by another artist, Duckwrth. The song was put on the soundtrack of the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and helped more people learn about Shaboozey.^[5]His second album, Cowboys Live Forever, Outlaws Never Die, was released in October 2022.

In early 2024, a member of Beyoncé's team heard his song "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" and asked Shaboozey to sing on two songs with Beyoncé. These songs appeared on her album Cowboy Carter, released in March 2024.^[6]

"A Bar Song (Tipsy)" was released in April 2024 and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it stayed for 19 weeks.

His third album, Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going, came out in May 2024.

In November 2024, he released "Good News", which reached number one on the US Country Airplay chart. That month he also performed at the halftime show of an NFL Thanksgiving Day game.

In December 2024, he performed on the television show Saturday Night Live. He also performed at the NFL Christmas Day halftime show with Beyoncé and Post Malone.^[7]In April 2026, he announced his fourth album, The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales, planned for release on 31 July 2026.

At the Grammy Awards in February 2026, Shaboozey spoke about immigration, saying his mother worked three to four jobs as an immigrant to support the family. He later apologised for not being careful enough with his words, saying he did not mean to overlook the history of Black Americans who also built the country.^[8]

Shaboozey has said his musical influences include the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Fela Kuti, Johnny Cash, and Missy Elliott.^[9]

• Lady Wrangler (2018)
• Cowboys Live Forever, Outlaws Never Die (2022)
• Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going (2024)
• The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales (2026, planned)