"Them white folks made it loud and clear" - Outrage erupts as netizens call out CMA Awards for not giving Shaboozey a single award

Hip-hop, rock, and alternative country musician Shaboozey was nominated in two categories in this year's Country Music Association Awards, including New Artist of the Year and Single of the Year for his number one song, A Bar Song (Tipsy).

However, he did not win either on the night of November 20, when the event was held at the Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. Notably, A Bar Song (Tipsy) not only topped the global charts but also emerged as the longest-running number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 list in 2024.

In the wake of Shaboozey not winning a single award at the 58th CMAs, an outrage erupted on the internet. For instance, X user @Rae_Von took to the social media platform and posted:

“Lol, Shaboozey not winning any award he was nominated for at the CMAs despite having the #1 country song in the country for months is wild. Them white folks made it loud and clear how much they don’t want black artists in country even though the genre is ours.”

Many people joined the conversation and shared similar critical reactions against the CMAs.

“Shaboozey lost every CMA award he was nominated for. They played in his face, but I’m not surprised. This is why Beyoncé didn’t pay them any mind after they mistreated her, too,” a person wrote.

“Nasty work. These people are racist af. Exactly why Beyoncé made ‘Cowboy Carter.’ To let them know they do not own the genre the way they think. They are not even that great at it. It's all one way with them. Same flavor,” one person wrote.

“So disrespectful they are losing credibility and are on the wrong side of history. How are they not embarrassed?” wrote another.

Others continued to slam the CMAs and express their disappointment.

“Biggest song of the year and played in his face. I hope he wins a Grammy,” a fan wrote.

“Wait, he lost all of them? THAT’S THE BIGGEST SONG AND COUNTRY ARTIST OF THE YEAR, I’M CONFUSED,” another fan wrote.

“The whole ‘we're not racist we love Shaboozey’ is slowly falling,” a netizen wrote.

“It’s the CMAs, what’s to expect? They only allow one token black artist to win because he’s ‘country enough’ and that was Darius Rucker 15 years ago,” another netizen wrote.

While Shaboozey may not have won awards at this year’s CMAs, his colleagues mentioned him multiple times on the stage, including host Luke Bryan making puns in his opening remarks to Cody Johnson’s producer Trent Willmon’s speech, saying, "This is for this cowboy who's been kicking Shaboozey for a lot of years.”

While fans considered it a dig at Shaboozey’s professional collaboration with Beyonce for her 2024 country album, Cowboy Carter. However, seemingly in response to the comment, the musician later shared a picture on X on November 21 and captioned it, "Ain't nobody kicking me!"

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Shaboozey performed two songs at the 2024 CMA Awards

On Wednesday night at the 2024 CMA Awards, Shaboozey, whose real name is Collins Obinna Chibueze, arrived in a mint green Western-inspired embroidered statement suit, paired with a black shirt, and matching sparkling shoes on the red carpet. The custom-made suit even showcased his stage name on the back.

He sang his signature track A Bar Song (Tipsy) which is currently topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the 18th consecutive week, making it the longest-running number one in this decade, and second in history. The artist followed it up with a pensive rendition of his hit single Highway from the LP, Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going.

For his performance, he wore black jeans and a lime green fringed jacket with embellished lapels. Midway through the performance, he even asked the audience to join him, by saying, “CMAs can we turn this place into the greatest dive bar in the world tonight?”

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At the CMAs, Megan Moroney won the New Artist of the Year award, the Single of the Year went to Chris Stapleton for White Horse.