By Eleni P. Austin
If you asked the average person to name a Black Country musician, depending on their age, the answer might be Charley Pride, Cowboy Troy or Darius Rucker. More recently, the response might be Lil Nas X or Mickey Guyton. If the person is a latte-sippin’ NPR listener, Rhiannon Giddons, The War & The Treaty and Alice Russell might be added to the mix.
The thing is, Black artists made significant contributions to Country music throughout the 20th Century. DeFord Bailey wasn’t just a Country musician, he was also the very first Country musician to be introduced on the Grand Ol’ Opry. Then there’s Stoney Edwards, Howdy Glenn, Linda Martell and Herb Jeffries. Even R&B pioneer Ray Charles made two groundbreaking Country records in the early ‘60s. Now, Shaboozey joins this august pantheon with his breakthrough album, “Where I’ve Been Isn’t Where I’m Going.”
In May 1995, Collins Obinna Chibueze was born to Nigerian parents and grew up in Woodbridge, Virginia. His nickname, Shaboozey, was derived from chronic mispronunciations of his surname, Chibueze, which means “God Is King” in Igbo. As a kid, he began watching music videos on the BET countdown show, 106 & Park. By the time he was junior high age, his parents sent him to boarding school in Nigeria. It was there he developed a sense of rhythm and began exploring his cultural heritage.
Once he returned to the U.S. he began making his own music. He took inspiration from disparate sources like The Backstreet Boys, Roger Waters, Fela Kuti, The Clipse and Led Zeppelin. His first song, “Jeff Gordon” leaned more toward Trap. Other songs like “Starfoxx” and “Robert Plant” followed, and record labels began to take notice. He signed with Republic Records in 2017, his full-length debut, Lady Wrangler, appeared in October. A second album, Cowboys Live Forever, Outlaws Never Die, arrived in 2022. Both were an intriguing amalgam of Trap, Rap and Country. Even though neither record hit the Top 100, the record industry was paying close attention.
Then one day, he received a call from Beyonce, who asked him to contribute to an album she was making that explored the connection between Black music and Country music. He ended up being featured on a couple of cuts, “Spaghettii” (which also included Linda Martell), and “Sweet Honey Bucklin” on Bey’s eighth record, Cowboy Carter. It all set the stage for Shaboozey’s newest album, Where I’ve Been Isn’t Where I’m Going.”
The record opens with the one-two punch of “Horses & Hellcats” and “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” On the former, bramble-thick acoustic guitar partners with high lonesome pedal steel, nimble bass and a ticklish beat, Shaboozey’s lowing tenor is phased and blurred but his intentions are clear. The shit has hit the fan and it’s time this 21st century outlaw to hit the road: “No matter who start it, we finish, I love my rifle, cross my heart that will not change, took a little bit of peyote, why the hell am I still in space, wifey gone I’m finna go hard for the next three days, withdrew all my money and then I broke the bank… and there’s no way out of the life we chose, everyone knows where it goes.”
The latter is a bit of a banger, probably one of the most infectious songs of the summer. Drafting off “Tipsy,” J-Kwon’s 2004 chart-topper, Shaboozey wraps jangly guitar and a Morricone-style whistle across a snappy, hand-clap beat. Initially, the lyrics offer up a catalog of woe: “My baby wants a Birkin, she been tellin’ me all night long, gasoline and groceries, the list goes on and on, this 9 to 5 ain’t workin’ why the hell do I work so hard? I can’t worry about ‘bout my problems, I can’t take ‘em when I’m gone,” but when the chorus hits, it gets this party started: “One, here comes the two to the three to the four, tell ‘em ‘bring another round,’ we need plenty more, two-steppin’ on the table, she don’t need a dancefloor, oh my, good lord/Someone pour me a double shot of whiskey, they know me and Jack Daniels’ got a history, there’s a party downtown near 5th street, everybody at the bar’s getting’ tipsy.”
The leitmotif for several songs here is breaking away from the past, saying goodbye to bad luck, bad love and bad timing. Take the simmering “Let It Burn.” Braided acoustic and electric guitars cradle Shaboozey’s empathetic croon as he advises a damsel in distress to set her hurtful relationship ablaze: “I know he hurt you bad, but you won’t come clean, they say time heals all but the pain runs too deep, you lie to yourself so much you’ve started to believe that love doesn’t last cause it’s all you’ve ever seen.” A crunchy, truncheon beat kicks in on the bridge and finally, it’s enough: “Grab the matches, start a fire, throw those memories in the flames it’s behind us, see the gold in the red new horizons, let it burn, let it burn.”
Then there’s the see-saw lament of “Steal From Me.” The melody and arrangement shares a little musical DNA with The Moody Blues’ “Nights In White Satin.” Acoustic guitar tangles with a bit of Bottleneck Blues and an insistent kick-drum beat. Lovelorn lyrics reap what they sow: “Cause nothing lasts forever, and mama raised me better, see these girls belong to the streets, what goes around, comes around, and karma, she’ll hunt you down, this town is full of thieves, I stole her from him, now someone’s gonna steal her from me.”
Meanwhile, “Last Of My Kind,” also features fellow rising Country star, Paul Cauthen is anchored by sun-dappled guitars, sidewinder banjo and a stompy beat on the chorus. Easily slipping into the skin of a ruthless outlaw, Shaboozey doesn’t mince words: “The world could be a son of a bitch, well, look through my eyes. can’t always climb to safety, sometimes you gotta fight/Go and get it if you want it, keep the fire burning inside, you won’t ever find another like me, cause I’m the last of my kind.”
The best tracks here add new colors and textures to Shaboozey’s sonic palette. On “Highway” shivery pedal steel partners with swirly guitars, meandering banjo and a chugging backbeat. Lyrics offer a wry mea culpa to a former love: “Since you stopped riding shotgun I ain’t been myself, going out looking for a good time, but I’m going through hell, got Jesus on the hotline saying you need help, put the liquor on the shelf, tell the devil farewell/You gave me you heart, gave you heartbreak, sorry I’m lost in this dark place somehow I’ll make it back to Sunday, I promise I’ll be coming back.” Somewhere along the line, his bravado is superseded by an endearing flash of vulnerability.
The power dynamic shifts on “Anabelle.” Slinky guitars. swoony pedal stee, rippling castenets and propulsive bass are tethered to a loping shuffle rhythm, Lyrics take a duplicitous ex to task: “Okay, I get ya, you wanted things to end, I gave you chances, you blew ‘em, don’t cry to me again, Okay, I’m pretty ruthless, I’m looking for revenge, I gave you all my love and you gave him yours instead/I run it off, my money long, got more than enough to do what I want, now that we speak less, you filled with regret, and you drink till I’m no longer stuck in your head.” As the song winds down a courtly Spanish guitar solo unspools, underscoring the hurt and betrayal.
In the tradition of Johhny & June, George & Tammy and Conrad and Loretta, “My Fault,” is a straight up, face-to-face Country duet with Noah Cyrus. Feathery acoustic notes lattice painterly pedal steel, thrumming bass, airy synths and a percussive kick. The pair trade verses and connect on the chorus, attempting to parse the highs and lows of their relationship and the eternal disconnect of he said: “Yeah, I can only handle heartache when there’s bourbon in my hand, if I had to relive all the hard days, I would do it all again, I’m better at the bar games, should’ve been a better man, so don’t you keep on trying to fix me, you’ve done everything you can,” she said: “Well, I made up my decision when you and me were sitting, barely living, coexisting, drifting slowly into dust, with you I’m only getting Eden or Armageddon, so I’m beginning to forgetting the last memories of us.” Ah, the never-ending curse of co-dependency.
Finally, ambition and circumstance collide on “East Of Massanutten.” Sprung banjo notes are matched by acoustic arpeggios, keening pedal steel and a thumpy beat. The opening verses touch on a part of history some Americans would prefer we forgot: “Just south of Leesberg, where Billy fought with Reb, some ran till their knees hurt, till they couldn’t feel their legs, tell me why I’m running now? For freedom I guess, to my 40 acres, full speed ahead.” Despite disappointments, Shaboozey perseveres: “Cause I know what’s out there, a land full of dreams, with milk, gold and honey just waiting for me/So I’ll pack me a duffle, skip the goodbyes and leave cause East of the Massanutten, there’s nothing for me.”
Other interesting tracks include the Spaghetti Western ache of “Vegas” and the more Rap-infused “Drink Don’t Need No Mix.” The record closes with the bare-bones “Finally Over.” The opening verses pare down to just vocals and strummy guitars. Contemplative lyrics offer a gimlet-eyed take on fame and fortune and the pound of flesh it it occasionally extracts: “Staring down the whiskey, longing to be sober, all my friends have gone careers and mine just might be over, if I don’t sell my soul again for another viral moment. The arrangement expands and rippling banjo notes dart through the mix, accented by rangy pedal steel, willowy fiddle and a caffeinated beat. Clearly, he would prefer to be genuine (or maybe even Ginuwine), rather than genuflect to the music industry. If he is only allotted his 15 minutes of fame, he’s okay with that: “Yeah, yeah, I’m good if it’s over, yeah, yeah, I’m cool if it’s all over.”
Of course, if this album is any indication, Shaboozey will be around for a very long time. Embraced quite completely by the Country Music establishment (even though Beyonce was only tolerated in this same context. But that’s a topic for a different column). Not only did Where I’ve Been Isn’t Where I’m Going hit # 7 on the Country charts, it’s also currently in the Top 20 of Billboard’s Top 200. Meanwhile, the single, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” has been perched at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 list for 11 weeks. Somewhere, DeFord Bailey is smiling.
