On The Jokes About Shaboozey at the CMA Awards

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A joke is a joke, and not meant to be taken seriously. And one would hope that we’re finally moving past the era when a predatory media isn’t preoccupied with taking opportunistic pull quotes out-of-context, or trying to misconstrue obvious jokes into overt public pronouncements. But producer Trent Willmon’s dig at Shaboozey did nobody any favors, except for the folks waiting in the weeds to exploit such moments to mischaracterize and undermine country music, which to no surprise, they’ve taken advantage of.

The 2024 CMA Awards on Wednesday night (11-20) was full of low notes, and only a few high ones. Cody Johnson winning Album of the Year for Leather over what many feared could be a big win for Jelly Roll was one of those high notes. As a former rodeo cowboy turned prison guard turned Texas country star turned mainstream stalwart, Cody Johnson is a country performer who is easy to root for.

When accepting the Album of the Year award, Cody Johnson’s producer and fellow performer Trent Willmon dutifully gave credit to Cody Johnson for all his hard work over the years that led to him finally standing on the CMA stage, accepting one of the biggest awards of the night. It’s how he chose to deliver that praise that has given way to some controversy. “I got to tell you, this is for this cowboy who’s been kicking Shaboozey for a lot of years,” is how Trent Willmon put it.

People took this as a dig at the performer Shaboozey, who was nominated for multiple awards on the night, had performed his hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” earlier in the evening, and was out in the crowd when the joke was issued. Obviously, it was simply a joke, and a play on Shaboozey’s name that legally is Collins Obinna Chibueze. His parents are Nigerian immigrants, and Shaboozey was raised in Northern Virginia.

Trent Willmon wasn’t the only one who made a joke from Shaboozey’s name on the night. CMA co-host Peyton Manning at one point said, “Holy Shaboozey!” as an exclamation, while the other co-host Luke Bryan said while praising the success of “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” “In Nashville, that’s what we call a Sha-doozey.” Both of these passing quips came in comedic moments when many performers were being razzed on, and both Manning and Bryan were making jokes about each other as well.

The difference about the Trent Willmon moment is that in real-time, it felt pointed, and potentially, like a moment of protest. It wasn’t that it wasn’t a joke. It most certainly was. It was that there are right times, and right places to deliver such things, and it wasn’t the time or place to do so. Nor was it done in a way that felt playful, and it gave elements of the media an opening that you knew they would ultimately exploit.

Sure enough, Rolling Stone rose to Shaboozey’s rescue, not just criticizing Trent Willmon’s quote, but also calling out the quips from Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning as well, characterizing them as “microaggressions being played off as jokes.” In an article titled, “Shaboozey Deserves More Than What the CMA Awards Gave Him – Including An Apology (*paywalled*), writer Larisha Paul characterized the CMA Awards as a hostile environment for Shaboozey because of the comments he endured.

But the jokes about Shaboozey by Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning were in no way mean-spirited. The only seeming evidence Rolling Stone forwards that they were is that the camera didn’t cut to Shaboozey when the jokes were issued. But again, other performers were also made fun of (including some not shown), while Luke and Peyton made fun of each other, and themselves.

If the CMA was out to disrespect Shaboozey, they wouldn’t have nominated him for Single of the Year and New Artist of the Year. They wouldn’t have given him a performance slot where he was allowed to sing not one, but two songs. Shaboozey was there, and nominated, and performing, while dozens of other top-tier country performers were nowhere to be found, including top White performers in the genre like Jason Aldean.

Not only do the people who perpetually turn jokes into inappropriate comments tend to be joyless individuals, they also tend to be from the elite classes and intellectual circles. This is at the heart of these misunderstandings.

In poor and lower class workplaces such as farms and ranches, construction sites, factories, restaurant kitchens, and other blue collar environments, people from various demographic backgrounds all intermingle with each other, and often use humor as a way to deal with mundane circumstances that don’t offer much other intellectual stimulus, and to build camaraderie and trust.

Humor is also how every single awards show deals with the stuffy and formal nature of the presentations, from the Grammy Awards, to the Oscars, to The Golden Globes, to the BET Awards. They’re often hosted by comedians or a set of performers with pre-written jokes making fun of those in attendance.

Couching Shaboozey as a victim of “microaggressions” makes him seem weak, while in truth, country performers joking around with Shaboozey shows a level of comfort and camaraderie between them. Precluding Shaboozey from jokes would have been the exclusionary and isolating action, not incorporating him into them.

For Shaboozey’s part, he handled the situation like Rolling Stone and other didn’t, taking Trent Willmon’s comment for what it was: a joke. After the awards, Shaboozey posted a photo of himself in a van/limo leaving the awards with a smile on his face and the caption, “Ain’t nobody kicking me!”

Shaboozey followed up the next day with further comments that Rolling Stone and many others ignored, saying, “Couldn’t have ever in my wildest dreams imagined being here. I’m grateful for all of it. Win or lose, I’m blessed by something or someone that has a power beyond my understanding. I’m here today hopefully living in my purpose and if my music makes even the tiniest positive impact in someone’s life I can die with a smile. Country music changed my life and I’m forever grateful to it and for it.”

This certainly didn’t sound like the musings of someone who felt victimized.

For some country fans, they wished and hoped Trent Willmon’s comments weren’t an accident, or misconstrued, or even a joke. They wanted them to be part of a long history in country music of protesting whenever pop/hip-hop artists make their way into the country space, or when legends of the genre are disrespected.

But on Friday (11-22), Trent Willmon clarified, “Okay … what I meant to express in my overly-shocked and excited state was that I am very proud of Cody Johnson. He has worked his BOOTY off for the last 15 years putting out and performing great music and it’s not an overnight success. I was so proud he’s finally getting recognized! And shout out to Shaboozey to your response to my fumble and having a great sense of humor, congrats on that 17-week #1 song!”

Was it a Freudian slip? Is Trent Willmon just trying to cover his tracks? It’s hard to tell. It was a shock that Cody Johnson won. Most prognosticators had Jelly Roll winning, and Cody Johnson mentioned this himself from the podium. What’s for certain is that the moment will be cited indefinitely among an elongated list of infractions towards Black performers in country, irrespective of Willmon’s intent, and irrespective of the factual basis for any of them.

Trent Willmon wasn’t the only one who potentially misspoke at a critical moment of the 2024 CMA Awards. While handing out the night’s biggest trophy—Entertainer of the Year—actor Jeff Bridges announced the winner as “Morgan Waylon.” It’s fair to wonder if Bridges knows who Morgan Wallen even is, perhaps questioning the wisdom of having him hand out the night’s biggest award.

Was Jeff Bridges attacking Morgan Wallen, or trying to make him the victim of a microaggression? No, he probably just misspoke. In 2013, Shania Twain was tapped with the same responsibility, and handed out the CMA Entertainer of the Year award to “Luke Bryant” (with a ‘t’).

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Country music shouldn’t feel the need to be accepting of music that isn’t country. A fair criticism of Shaboozey and “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is that’s they’re just not fit for the country market. “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is a remake of a 2005 J-Kwon hip-hop song.

Shaboozey’s performance on the 2024 CMA Awards was pretty underwhelming, with Shaboozey veering out-of-pitch in moments, and sometimes outright making mistakes. But frankly, most all the performances during the 2024 CMA Awards were underwhelming.

There is plenty to objectively criticize about Shaboozey. It’s also not like Shaboozey needed any awards or a performance on the CMA Awards to boost his signal. “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” has spent 17 weeks at the top of the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 and set records. His appearance did nothing for his star power. If anything, it might have impinged on his momentum due to the flat performance.

Meanwhile, there are Black performers within country music’s ranks that play actual country music and feature original songs that get shaded out by the presence of someone like Shaboozey. Writer Larisha Paul for Rolling Stone says at one point in the article demanding the CMAs apologize that “Black culture [is] being diluted in order to make it more accessible to people who won’t make a conscious effort to learn anything about it.”

That’s exactly what is symbolized by Shaboozey and “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” He’s a diluted form of Black expressions in country music run through digital samples, Autotune, and pop sensibility. Meanwhile, organic Black country artists such as Aaron Vance or Big Loud’s new performer Kashus Culpepper continue to be overlooked.

If country music actually wants to address diversity issues, then it needs to do that from within, developing and nurturing Black and Brown performers who actually play country music, that are committed to the genre, and have spent their careers within it.

Just like Lil Nas X and Blanco Brown before him, Shaboozey has yet to prove his resonance within the country genre beyond one hit song that relies on samples, and whose actual base of appeal rests with pop and hip-hop fans as opposed to fans within country. That doesn’t mean Shaboozey can’t appeal to country in the future. He seems like a thoughtful guy. His album Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going included some surprisingly deep and organic moments, and the title felt like a prediction.

But country music also needs to be smarter. The quips by hosts Peyton Manning and Luke Bryan were perfectly acceptable and completely non-problematic. Trent Willmon’s was tough to read, and gave critics an inch that they took a mile from. Country music doesn’t have a great record when it comes to race, and it needs to continue to work to reconcile with that. It needs to make sure that everyone feels accepted, as long as those performers have accepted the true meaning and approach of country music into their heart as well.

“Country music changed my life and I’m forever grateful to it and for it,” is what Shaboozey said the day after the 2024 CMAs.

Now, if Shaboozey now wants to help change country music as a place that will be accepting of everyone, he will take his success and make a concerted effort understand the genre and make actual country music. “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and the hip-hop world is where Shaboozey has been. Where he’s going next is what will determine what his legacy will be in country music.

© 2024 Saving Country Music

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