Just as millennials everywhere were slowly ridding their brains of the earworm that was J-Kwon’s “Tipsy”, Shaboozey burst on the scene, breaking multiple records, with a hit country track sampling the hip-hop classic from 2004. Shaboozey’s track, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”, came out twenty years and three months after J-Kwon’s, and even in the one year that’s passed between the release and the time of this writing, Shaboozey’s pop country hit has established a historical legacy. A legacy, we dare say, that overshadows J-Kwon’s first and only major hit single.
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Still, J-Kwon and other preceding artists’ influence on Shaboozey can’t be discredited. The country singer and rapper has cited a wide variety of musical inspirations, ranging from The Rolling Stones to Lead Belly to Pharrell Williams to Missy Elliot. The fact that Shaboozey was able to build his record-breaking single off an early 2000s hip-hop track is yet another testament to the country singer’s ability to pay homage to and expand upon the artists who came before him. “Tipsy” was, after all, a hit. (Who doesn’t still rap “1, here comes the 2 to the 3 to the 4” to themselves every so often?) But it paled in comparison to “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”.
Shaboozey broke multiple records with his 2024 single, most notably joining Lil Nas X as having the longest-running No. 1 song of all time on the Billboard Hot 100. The latter artist’s claim to fame, of course, being “Old Town Road”. Shaboozey also enjoyed tremendous success as a crossover artist, topping both the Hot 100 and Hot Country charts simultaneously. This marked the first time in chart history that two Black artists topped two charts at once. (The other was Beyoncé, who was on the charts for “Texas Hold ‘Em”.)
Those Aren’t Even All the Records Shaboozey Broke With His Hit Track
Having one of the longest-running No. 1 singles of all time and being the first of two Black artists to top the Hot 100 and the Hot Country Billboard charts simultaneously are no small feathers to place in one’s cap. These accolades alone would be enough to cement Shaboozey’s status as a musical icon. Yet, he didn’t stop there. “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” also became the longest-running No. 1 debut single in chart history. Carrie Underwood previously held the record for her track, “Jesus, Take the Wheel”, which Shaboozey beat by one week. The country pop artist broke similar records in Canada, becoming the longest-running No. 1 single on the Canadian Hot 100, too. By every definition, the song was a massive, worldwide hit.
The fact that a rap-country-pop hybrid like Shaboozey’s debut single would achieve such great success is not only a testament to the music industry’s increasing blending of multiple genres. It’s also proof that Shaboozey’s ethos as an artist worked. Speaking to People in 2025, Shaboozey said, “I love standing out. I love that I’m different. I think it’s my superpower.”
He continued, “I don’t like to follow the norm or trends. I feel like to be successful in today’s climate, you’ve got to be different. Something in my gut or in my spirit leads me to create the things I create and do the things I do. And I think following that purpose attracts good things.”
If his multiple broken records, five Grammy Award nominations, three Billboard Music Awards, two People’s Choice Country Awards, iHeartRadio Music Award, and nine RIAA certifications from around the world (including an impressive Diamond certification in the U.S., which translates to 10,000,000 sales) are any indication whatsoever, we’d say Shaboozey’s right.
(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for ACM)
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