The GRAMMY Museum was thrilled to welcome RIAA-certified platinum artist Shaboozey to the Museum’s intimate 200-seat Clive Davis Theater for an evening discussing his Billboard 200 charting album Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, collaborating with Beyoncé, his rising career, and more.
Rising multi-faceted artist Shaboozey is building his own world, carving his lane in the alternative country and hip-hop space. Born to parents of Nigerian descent and raised in the small town of Woodbridge, VA, Shaboozey grew up on an eclectic mix of music encompassing everything from classic hip-hop and R&B, to country and blues icons like Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers, Garth Brooks, and Lead Belly, to master lyricists, such as Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. A true crossover artist, he began his epic 2024 run in March with two standout features on Beyoncé’s COWBOY CARTER—the only artist with multiple appearances on the album. His body of work, the critically acclaimed masterpiece Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, debuted in the top five of the Billboard 200 and was praised in The New York Times for “bring[ing] hip-hop grit to country. The album’s smash single “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which is 3X RIAA-certified platinum and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, launched him to mainstream stardom and has become the song of the summer. With the meteoric rise of “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Shaboozey and Beyoncé became the first Black artists to score back-to-back leaders in the Billboard Hot Country Songs’ 66-year history. True to his Virginia roots, Shaboozey aims to continue the region’s long-standing tradition of prolific creativity, this time by expanding the scope of contemporary hip-hop and introducing modern Americana to a global audience.