Black country music star Shaboozey showed fans that he isn’t letting the jabs get to him by responding to a controversial joke made at his expense during the 2024 CMA Awards, Today reports.
The “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” singer caught wind of a joke made by producer Trent Willmon incorporating Shaboozey’s name. Willmon joined artist Cody Johnson on stage while accepting the award for album of the year. “I got to tell ya, this is for this cowboy who has been kicking Shaboozey for a lot of years, Cody Johnson,” Willmon said, as Johnson put his head down.
As Willmon hasn’t responded about the context of the random joke, social media immediately jumped to Shaboozey’s defense, labeling the comment as confusing and in bad taste. “I’ve been searching the comments trying to find out what he even means by ‘kicking shaboozeys for a lot of years’ but haven’t found anything,” @withonewing said.
Another user wasn’t upset that the producer said something but noted that he could “have said anything… but chose disrespect.”
Other users think that Willmon is showing feelings of insecurity as Shaboozey is steadily climbing the music charts. The newcomer to the Nashville infused industry was nominated for two awards — best new artist and single of the year — but walked away empty handed at the end of the show that aired on Nov. 18. His hit debut song has remained at the number-one spot on the Billboard’s Hot 100 for 18 weeks straight. It is also on the track to match the 2019 hit “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X and Billie Ray Cyrus as the chart’s longest-ever number one song.
Now, fans want the artist, whose real name is Collins Obinna Chibueze, to keep that top spot to show the industry what he has to offer. “I need shaboozey to hold onto that no 1 spot past 20 weeks,” @winnie_maybach said.
However, fans don’t need to worry about Shaboozey going anywhere. In early November 2024, the up-and-coming country star scored numerous Grammy Award nominations. According to People, the Virginia native is up for best new artist, song of the year, best country song, and best country solo performance with “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”
He is also up for the category of best melodic rap performance for “Spaghettii,” in which he collaborated with fellow CMA snubbed artist, Beyoncé on her country album, Cowboy Carter.RELATED CONTENT: At The Intersection Of Black Culture And Country Music Lies History