The rising star and Beyoncé collaborator credits his unique stage name to some misunderstandings in his youth
Eric Ryan Anderson
Shaboozey for Billboard
Shaboozey has revealed the origins of his stage name.
Born Collins Obinna Chibueze to Nigerian immigrants in Virginia, the “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” singer recalled the influence of his formative years on his career trajectory in the latest Billboard cover story.
“It could be a little confusing at times,” he said of growing up in the then-rural town of Woodbridge, Virginia. “Hearing your name [mispronounced] during attendance was always a thing; you felt like you had to make it easier for everyone else to understand.”
After his high school football coach misspelled Chibueze, which means “God is king” in Igbo, it evolved from a nickname into his stage name.
Eric Ryan Anderson
Shaboozey covers Billboard
Shaboozey also opened up about choosing the country path instead of hip-hop, although he’s since been regarded as creating a combination of the two.
“The rap we looked at on TV was always glamorized. That wasn’t the reality for everybody,” he explained. “No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t write music in that world. I found country music could teach people that the little things in life are where the value is. Just having a working truck that you can take your girl in to ride to a cliff and watch the sunset is enough.”
Eric Ryan Anderson
Shaboozey for Billboard
He also revealed that his first country record, Wrangler, is indefinitely shelved because “something in my head told me, ‘The world ain’t ready for this.'” The album, which was created in 2016, was set aside in favor of his official debut, 2018’s Lady Wrangler.
Shaboozey exploded onto the mainstream with the release of “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which interpolates J-Kwon’s 2004 club hit “Tipsy.” The country singer discussed the process of getting the sample cleared, telling Billboard that J-Kwon “was listening to the record for three weeks straight, not clearing it because he thought the song was already out.”
Back in May, Shaboozey released his third album Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going. In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the Virginia-born singer pondered why the song’s source material made his version, which hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100, such a hit.
“Everybody’s heard ‘Tipsy.’ I think every single person. And everybody definitely goes to the bar. Going to the bar and then getting drunk, getting tipsy and then going to the club — it’s doing the same thing,” he said of J-Kwon’s original. “Music transcends like that. It’s cool to see everyone knows that song and everyone knows this one, so there’s a little bit of commonality there that people like drinking and partying.”
Shaboozey can also be heard on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter cuts “Spaghettii” and “Sweet Honey Buckiin'”.
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