Who is Shaboozey? The man with two Beyoncé features shaking up music industry

Beyonce’s latest album, ‘Country Carter,’ has fans exploring a different side of her creativity and discovering new talents, such as Shaboozey, the Nigerian country singer.

Shaboozey, who is based in Virginia, the US, is featured on two tracks on the album: ‘Spaghetti’ with Linda Martell and ‘Sweet / Honey / Buckiin.’

His hit song, ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy),’ a flip of J-Kwon’s 2004 song ‘Tipsy’ released through American Dogwood/EMPIRE, recently climbed five places to number one on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. It replaced Beyoncé’s ‘Texas Hold ‘Em,’ which was the first time a Black woman topped the list.

This also marks the first time two Black artists have led the chart in back-to-back weeks since the chart became an all-encompassing genre ranking in 1958, according to Billboard.

‘A Bar Song,’ the lead single off his May album ‘Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going,’ was one of just two songs on the entire Hot 100 in a Taylor Swift-flooded list to rise, moving from No. 36 to No. 27.

Shaboozey was born to Nigerian parents in Virginia. His father is a farmer. His stage name comes from a mispronunciation of his surname, ‘Chibueze,’ which means ‘God is King’ in Igbo. During his childhood, he was inspired by watching music videos on BET’s 106 & Park and from the time he spent at a boarding school in Nigeria for junior secondary school.

Shaboozey’s style of music combines hip-hop and country music, which he credits to his Virginia roots.

It is important to note that Bristol City, which stands between the border of Virginia and Tennessee, was the site of the first country recordings. Virginia is also home to hip-hop legends like Pharrell, Missy Elliot, and Timbaland.

Shaboozey got his first big hit with ‘Start a Riot’ off the ‘Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse’ soundtrack with Duckwrth. He later had another hit on ‘Let It Burn,’ which received co-signs from Timbaland, Russ, and more.

During an interview, Shaboozey expressed his excitement about working with Beyonce, “It feels awesome…We’re so happy to have such a powerhouse of an artist that chose to take this journey to country(genre), so it’s amazing to be a part of that.”

The future for Shaboozey looks great, as getting recognised by top artists in Hollywood will pave the way for more collaborations on the country and hip-hop scene.