2024 CMA Awards Owe Shaboozey an apology

Shaboozey was up for grabs at the 2024 CMA Awards, having received two nods in his debut year as a nominee and a performance slot for showcasing a medley of his breakthrough hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and his latest single “Highway.” But what should have been a night of celebrating country — a genre in which the 29-year-old musician has been a history-making force all year — was plagued by microaggressions that were played out as jokes.

Shaboozey didn’t get the chance to take the stage to accept any of his nods — New Artist of the Year or Single of the Year — but the singer-songwriter was gratuitously mentioned in the acceptance speech from a category he wasn’t even in. nominated in

When Cody Johnson took the stage to accept the Album of the Year trophy for his record Leatherhis producer Trent Willmon approached the microphone with a dull joke, signing off: “I’ve got to tell you, this is for this cowboy who’s been kicking Shaboozey for years.” Social media users have noted that Willmon could simply have been playing a game with the term “kick change”. However, that doesn’t necessarily explain why he felt comfortable playing word games with the name of one of the night’s two nominated Black acts.

Shaboozey was born Collins Obinna Chibueze to Nigerian immigrant parents. Growing up in Woodbridge, Virginia, he got his nickname-turned-stage name from a high school football coach who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) pronounce his last name properly. “Hearing your name (mispronounced) during participation was always a thing; you felt you had to make it easier for everyone else to understand,” Shaboozey shared Billboard earlier this year. Willmon’s unprovoked jab at the artist highlights the unfortunate normalization of black culture that is watered down to make it more accessible to people who won’t make a conscious effort to learn about it.

In the particular case of the CMA Awards, making fun of Shaboozey’s name had become normalized throughout the night. During the opening monologue, co-host Peyton punctuated Manning from one sentence to another by using the exclamation “Holy Shaboozey!” as a bridge between the two. Then co-host Luke Bryan riffed on the success of “A Bar Song,” joking, “In Nashville, that’s what we call a Sha-doozey.” Manning promptly and appropriately responded, “That doesn’t sound right at all.” Notably, every artist mentioned in the segment was shown on camera in the audience moments later. Shaboozey wasn’t.

Later in the night, while introducing Shaboozey ahead of his performance, Bryan made another direct remark. Manning had just mentioned the reign “A Bar Song” has enjoyed atop the Billboard Hot 100, spending 17 weeks without a move, when the artist added: “His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Shaboozey, must be so proud.”

They have every right to be. Shaboozey kicked off his year with two featured performances at Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carteran appreciative celebration of black country musicians and their often-buried history, notably not nominated for the CMA Awards. Then came “A Bar Song,” which dethroned Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” at number one on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. It was the first time that two black artists have held the position consecutively.

And earlier this month, Shaboozey scored six nominations for the 2025 Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year, Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance for “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” He’s also up for best new artist and best melodic rap performance alongside Beyoncé and country pioneer Linda Martell for “Spaghettii.”

Shortly after the show ended, Shaboozey posted a photo on X (formerly Twitter) in which he is pictured shrugging off Willmon’s comment with a smile on his face. The caption read: “Isn’t somebody kicking me!”

That Shaboozey lost out on both of his CMA Awards nominations does nothing to detract from the blockbuster year he’s had. He walked into a winner. And the poorly written remarks the hosts read off a teleprompter don’t change that. But his first year at the show should have opened the door for him to be welcomed. Instead, it was probably slapped in his face.

This comes in the same year that War and Treaty, the only other black act nominated for the 2024 CMA Awards, drew attention to a cotton plant placed in their dressing room at the Coca-Cola Sips & Sounds Festival in Austin. Organizers played it off as an “honest mistake,” just as many viewers unfamiliar with being on the receiving end of blatant microaggressions might play off the Shaboozey name as simple jokes. That black artists are expected to conform and continually submit to such hostile environments under the guise of participating in the community is completely unfair.

When Beyoncé was shut out of the CMA Awards nominations, Shaboozey came to her defense, secondment: “It goes without saying. Thank you, Beyonce, for opening a door for us, starting a conversation, and giving us one of the most innovative country albums ever!” Meanwhile, artists like Bryan suggested that Beyoncé simply didn’t integrate into the country community enough.

“Everybody loved that Beyoncé made a country album. Nobody’s mad about it,” he said at the time. “But where things get a little tricky — if you want to make a country album, come into our world and be a little bit country with us . Like Beyoncé can do exactly what she wants. She is probably the biggest star in music. But come to an award show and high-five us and have fun and join the family too. And I’m not saying she didn’t … but country music is very much about family.”

The suggestion that she is “coming to an awards show” is laughable when placed next to the fact that her own experience with racism at the 2016 CMA Awards is what inspired her to create Cowboy Carter in the first place. But what about Shaboozey? He played the game. He came to the award ceremony. And yet he was treated with a fraction of the honor and respect given even to artists like Post Malone, who is a guest in the genre after jumping from rap to pop to country over the past decade.

Why would anyone want to be part of that community? Shaboozey deserves more than what the CMA Awards gave him on Wednesday night. In fact, he deserves an apology.