Beyoncé’s CMA ‘Cowboy Carter’ Snub: Shaboozey Reacs

In April, “A Bar Song” made history when it replaced Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. It was the first time two black artists topped the chart back-to-back – a watershed moment made even more special by the duo’s recent collaboration.

Shaboozey broke into the mainstream after earning two featured spots on Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter,” her celebrated new album that doubles as a research project into the roots and influence of the black community in country, bluegrass, blues, soul and other genres quintessentially American.

Shaboozey appears on two standout tracks, “Spaghettii” and “Sweet Honey Buckiin”. In the days following the album’s release, Shaboozey saw a 70 percent increase in first-time listeners on Spotify, according to The Hollywood Reporter. His fellow contemporaries who appeared on the album, including Tanner Adell and Brittney Spencer, experienced similar rises.

“Cowboy Carter” made chart history and inspired thoughtful conversations about systemic racism in the music industry. So it makes sense why fans and critics were outraged earlier this week when the nominees for the 2024 Country Music Association Awards were announced, and Beyoncé came up empty-handed. (As Billboard reported, Beyoncé’s team did not have to submit “Cowboy Carter” for the album to be eligible. Representatives for the CMAs did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.)

While speaking to BI on the VMAs red carpet, Shaboozey said the album’s cultural value is more important than recognition from industry gatekeepers.

“As artists, we don’t go in, hopefully, thinking, ‘How am I going to win this award?’ You’re like, “How do I make the most intentional and impactful music?” And that project changed a lot of people’s lives, including mine,” Shaboozey said of “Cowboy Carter.”

“If I do this for another artist, it means a lot more than a nomination,” he added.

Shaboozey himself received two 2024 CMA nominations: New Artist of the Year and Single of the Year for “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”.

Asked if he had any inclination that his year would be so successful, Shaboozey laughed: “No!”

“I mean, how do you know? You just hope for the best and you’ve put your best foot forward and hopefully you have people around you who encourage you and motivate you and point you in the right direction and help you out of those little bits that you’re in,” he said. he said.

With “A Bar Song” in particular, Shaboozey felt like it could be a hit—not because that’s what he set out to do, but because everyone in the studio was having fun while doing it.

“When you’re writing together and everyone’s throwing their ideas into it, it doesn’t feel like, ‘It’s exhausting. Let’s move on.” You want to continue,” he explained. “And then you send it to your team and your team says, ‘Wait. What did you just do?” I think these were all signs that we did something special.”