The yr was 1971 and Charley Pride was about to make history. At the Country Music Association Awards ceremony, renowned singer-songwriter and guitarist Glen Campbell opened the envelope and flashed a knowing smile as if he had just heard the perfect news of the day. “Artist of the Year…yes he deserves it, our buddy Mr. Charley Pride!” At the time, the image of a black man presenting essentially the most coveted award to a white-dominated music genre was surreal. And Pride fully deserved it, as he released five consecutive platinum-selling albums, in addition to his fourth No. 1 country single: “I’d somewhat love you“

Pride, who died in 2020, was an agent of change within the industry — his hit-making profession spanned from 1952 to 2020 with the discharge of “Amy’s eyes” as his last charting single in 1990 – and opened the door to future generations of Black Country artists, most recently 29-year-old breakout star Shaboozey. There was actually cause for optimism when the Virginia native was nominated for New Artist of the Year and Single of the Year on the 58th Annual Awards.^vol Annual CMA Awards. However, after performing a mixture the somber “Highway” and his record-breaking song “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Shaboozey won in each categories.

The losses were enough to lift eyebrows amongst some fans and viewers on social media. Before the musician stepped foot on stage in Nashville, Tennessee on November 20, his ubiquitous hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” had already topped the Billboard Hot 100 for an incredible 17 weeks, tying Lil Nas X’s hit “Old Town Road” the 2019 remix (“A Bar Song” has it has now topped the charts for 19 weeks). It also broke American country sweetheart Carrie Underwood’s record for the longest-running No. 1 debut single on country airwaves.

Despite his record-breaking hit and moving awards performance, many of the evening’s headlines focused mainly on the “jokes” Shaboozey witnessed in the course of the telecast. Throughout the show, his name was was a relentless, mocking punch line, a lot in order that CMA’s hometown newspaper exclaimed: drained running gag. The biggest offender, producer Trent Willmon, seemingly out of nowhere, dropped the artist during his acceptance speech for Album of the Year for his production for Cody Johnson.

“I have to tell you,” Willmon said. “This is for that cowboy who’s been kicking Shaboozey for years, y’all, Cody Johnson.” Some emphasized that it was only a harmless joke. Others have rightly identified that Nigerian-born American artist Collins Obinna Chibueze has said in interviews that he took a liking to “Shaboozey” after, amongst other things, his former college coach mispronounced his surname. Shaboozey, who seemed untroubled by all this, responded in a social media post later that evening, stating, “Nobody kicks me!” He continued“I am here today hoping that I am fulfilling my purpose…Country music has changed my life and I am forever grateful.”

Willmon responded to this confusion: writes on Instagram“greetings to Shaboozey for reacting to my misunderstandings and great sense of humor. Congratulations on this #1 song in 17 weeks!” But the outrage over bad jokes concerning the name turned out to be low-hanging fruit. An even bigger shadow was forged: Shaboozey’s hypocritical attitude.

Since its inception, country music has at all times been about relationships and community. It’s a tight-knit scene where you’ll be able to feel the poser across the corner, identical to in hip-hop culture. Black people have at all times had a spot within the history of country music, whose roots lie in African-American musical traditions including blues, gospel and folk music. Due to America’s deep-seated prejudices and sophisticated racial and cultural order, “hillbilly records” were used to advertise music geared toward white audiences and “racial records” were used to advertise music geared toward black audiences starting within the Nineteen Twenties.

The oppressive whiteness of country music was its ultimate guardian, even within the early days of the Grand Ole Opry favorite DeFord Baileyblack musician, during his historic performances from 1926 to 1941. Over the years, outside of Pride, a black artist’s industrial success in country music has largely been attributed to outsiders resembling genre-hopping icons Ray Charles, who released his album in 1962, and R&B group The Pointer Sisters, who scored in 1974 Grammy Award for “Fairytale”. And for female solo artists and songwriters, from such provocative talents as Linda Martell, Frankie Staton and Alice Randall, to the following wave of Mickey Guyton, Rissi Palmer, Brittney Spencer and Tanner Adell, their journey has been an underappreciated endeavor, at times.

Some black artists have benefited from the dominant brother hierarchy within the genre. Darius Rucker, Kane Brown, even a fallen star Jimmy Allen all achieved multi-platinum album status and sold out arenas. But what happens if you’re labeled a “hybrid” country artist and you’ll be able to’t avoid getting noticed?

Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” will be heard in television commercials and sporting events. Which brings us back to his puzzling CMA defeat. How noted by author Emily Yahr, Chris Stapleton’s soulful single “White Horse” was “a typical Stapleton hit, released over a year ago” and seemingly a far cry from the dominant track “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” New Artist of the Year Megan Moroney received a nod, but she did not have as raucous a yr as Shaboozey.

There was widespread discussion amongst some country purists that Shaboozey shouldn’t have even been nominated for a CMA Award, given his 808-drum mix, hip-hop-inspired lyrical cadence, and heartwarming honky-tonk storytelling. However, country has long overtaken the standard artistry of such giants as Loretta Lynn, George Strait and Brooks & Dunn. Polarizing duo Florida Georgia Line he rapped in his 2014 hit “This is how we roll”, featuring Luke Bryan, one of countless multi-platinum country, hip-hop and rock mash-ups that earned them several national awards.

The easy-to-root Jelly Roll (Shaboozey is currently touring with the CMA winner as a gap act) began his profession as a rapper before making the jump to country. And while playing the guitar Shaboozey brings similar hip-hop backgroundhe didn’t at all times benefit from the same favor as his fellow country adventurers.

The irony, of course, is that Shaboozey first became national news when he appeared on Beyoncé’s acclaimed show. The genre-crossing album has been praised for shedding much-needed light on the contributions of Black Country artists. Beyoncé’s ode to line dancing:Texas Hold’Em”, was a world #1 hit.

However, Queen Bey was lower than impressive in Nashville, with some even claiming that the singer was attempting to money in on the country’s growing popularity by showing no respect to the genre’s community. Beyoncé made it clear that this was not a rustic album. The criticism turned out to be a private attack at best and a racist overtone at worst.

Still, Shaboozey’s success provides the right litmus test for top country musicians. He did every part they thought Beyoncé hadn’t done: hit up country radio, cut his teeth playing local shows in Nashville, and gained the respect of other performers at country music festivals. Yet he returned home empty-handed. But Shaboozey doesn’t wallow in a single dizzying disappointment. He is headliner of the Detroit Lions Thanksgiving halftime show. He has already scheduled a performance for January 18, 2025 on the hallowed venue of country and western music, the Grand Ole Opry. Charley Pride, the visionary who helped make Shaboozey’s dream a reality, modified the humiliation of being nicknamed “Supern–r” by Willie Nelson. right into a badge of honor. Shaboozey is unfazed. He stands on the shoulders of giants.