It’s no debate. Shaboozey is one of the hottest stars in country music. His smash “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” not only earned him five nominations at the 2025 Grammy Awards, but the track has broken records, spending 19 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the longest-running No. 1 song by a solo artist in the history of the chart.
Aside from that incredible feat (and others), Shaboozey, whose real name is Collins Obinna Chibueze, remained authentically himself since before his rise to superstardom. But it may come as a surprise that he didn’t grow up with the thought that one day, he would make it in country music.
The 29-year-old genre-bending singer, who blends hip-hop, country, rock, and Americana influences, appeared on The Rebecca Judd Show on Apple Music 1, where he opened up about his initial lack of knowledge of the country genre, saying at the beginning of his musical journey, he wanted to play and sing in a way that showed his deep appreciation for his roots.
“I was honestly just trying to make music that represented where I was from in the States,” the Virginia native explained, after admitting that “I started making country music without even knowing, entirely, what it was.”
“Growing up in Virginia, I tried to make music that felt like the environment that was around me. I started looking into acoustic guitars,” Shaboozey added, pointing out that The Rolling Stones have a song called “Sweet Virginia.” “It’s classic, and it’s them kind of making a country song or their take on a country song. So, for me, it was making music that represented my environment.”
Shaboozey went on to say that he soon discovered other artists like Zach Bryan and Colter Wall following in the footsteps of classic artists like The Rolling Stones, providing their own new, respective representations of what country music could sound like.
“It was just really inspiring to see that there are people that continue to pay homage or pay tribute to those classic artists that we grew up listening to,” Shaboozey said.
While one could say that Shaboozey is far from the humble beginnings of his career, he has not forgotten the first country song he ever wrote — a song called “Boozey Gone Nashville.”
“I remember it was in Virginia. It’s about maybe 2015 or 2014,” he recalled, adding that he and one of his buddies were, at the time, fiddling around with a banjo. “I was kind of just experimenting, just being an artist, and my friend and I went to his house. He lived in Fredericksburg or Stafford, and he had a banjo, and that was my first time seeing a banjo in person. And he starts playing, and I was like, that is hard. I was like, that’s so cool. Let’s play it. Let’s make a song.”
Shaboozey let his friend control the banjo parts while he came up with the song lyrics, but the first go-around, he said“was a little bit funny.”
“It was more comedic than serious, you know what I mean?” he explained. “But that was my first time being like, ‘Oh, I feel joy from making a song like this.’ It was different, and it still had elements of hip-hop in it. There was still the 808, the banjo. We had a slide guitar. It was cool.
The song was called ‘Boozey Gone Nashville’ too. I hadn’t even been to Nashville at that time. That’s Virginia. You just make songs about where you want to… like places you want to see, but you don’t have the money or the means or the freedom to go check out the rest of the world, but you’re just like, man, one day I’m going to Nashville.”
Luckily, Shaboozey didn’t hang up his hat after penning “Boozey Gone Nashville.” Although he didn’t write “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” he had to have had enough inkling to know that it would take off. And that’s exactly what it did. The 8x RIAA-Platinum tune not only topped the charts in the US, but it became an international megahit, taking the top spot in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden. The tune reached the No. 1 position on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, edging out Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em,” marking the first time two black artists held the No. 1 position consecutively. “A Bar Song (Tipsy” also topped the Billboard Country Airplay and Mediabase/Country Aircheck charts.
Shaboozey certainly has plenty more success ahead. He spent the end of last year opening for Jelly Roll on his Beautifully Broken Tour and recently announced a collaboration with the “Liar” hitmaker. The pair of superstars just released a brand-new duet, titled “Amen,” which arrived on Shaboozey’s deluxe album, released April 25.
“Definitely want to do one with Jelly Roll Love. Love to do one with Jelly Roll,” the multi-platinum artist previously shared before, teasing dream collaborations. “Future. I’ll say that everywhere. I think Future will be a cool one. [Young] Thug. Yeah. I’ve gotten the chance to meet all of them, too. It would be cool to do maybe a country song with Future and Thug together, and that’d be pretty cool. It’s coming soon. Yeah. I’ll put it down.”
In the meantime, the ACM Award-nominated Shaboozey will be sharing Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going: The Complete Edition, an extended version of his RIAA Platinum-certified breakthrough album. Featuring brand-new music and special guests, Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going: The Complete Edition arrives April 25 via EMPIRE.
In addition, Shaboozey is filling up his touring schedule, playing at various festivals and musical events including headlining FanDuel’s Kentucky Derby Party on Friday, May 2nd in Louisville, Kentucky and appearing at Stagecoach Festival in Indio, California, which runs from April 25-27.
