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Fans are applauding rapper and country musician Shaboozey (real name Collins Obinna Chibueze) for his recent NFL (National Football League) halftime performance. The show took place during the Thanksgiving game between Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears at Ford Field in Detroit on Thursday, November 28, 2024, which ended in Lions' victory.
The musician's seven-and-a-half-minute performance featured a medley of hits from his latest album Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Goin. This included Last of My Kind, Highway, and A Bar Song (Tipsy).
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As clips of the performance went viral, internet users were quick to react. One user replied to @_MLFootball, a media company that reports on all things NFL, post about the performance, saying:
The user was referring to Harlow's Thanksgiving halftime performance last year.
Netizens continued to praise the rapper, calling the show "entertaining."
"W show and W artist," one commented.
"He was entertaining with catchy songs. Went out, performed and sounded much better than previous ones. So, yes," another reacted.
"f you don’t like this Shaboozey performance you don’t like music. Period. Crushed it," an NFL reporter added.
Meanwhile, others trolled the Bears for their performance during the game, especially the first half where the Lions led 16-0.
"Give me Shaboozey over Jack Harlow every day of the week #Thanksgiving," another one wrote.
"(He) has created more offense than #DaBears today in Detroit Rock City," a fan stated.
"Shaboozey on the field longer than the Bears offense is CRAZY" another added.
"He’s just a really cool dude"—the NFL halftime show’s production designer, Bruce Rodgers, about Shaboozey
As reported by Billboard, Shaboozey wore the home team's varsity jacket during Thursday's performance. He was accompanied by his touring band and 10 local dancers grooving to Fatima Robinson's choreography. Additionally, the Lions cheerleaders were performing on-field in front of the stage alongside a crowd of 500 fan volunteers.
Regarding the Virginia native's performance, NFL’s head of music, Seth Dudowsky, told the publication:
"Our goal is to be able to bring artists and music that we feel are going to resonate with a broad audience, with families, and also try to be as culturally relevant as possible – I don’t know if that applies to any artist more right now than Shaboozey."
Following his performance, Shaboozey interacted with Lions fans and the crowd. He even greeted the group of U.S. Marines who served as the pre-game color guard (they carry the flags at ceremonies).
Bruce Rodgers, the halftime show’s production designer, told Billboard that the rapper was a "really cool dude" who was "overly excited but also super nervous" about the show. He stated:
"He’s just a really cool dude. When you get an artist like this who’s so quickly elevated in their musical career, they still remember how to be regular folks and they want to connect."
The rapper rose to fame in 2018 for his song Start a Riot, which was part of the soundtrack for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Earlier this year, he collaborated with Beyoncé on two tracks of her album Cowboy Carter—Sweet Honey Buckling and Spaghetti.
At the time, the songstress praised the rapper in a statement made to the Hollywood Reporter (June 2024):
"When you are breaking down barriers, not everyone is ready and open for a shift. But when I see Shaboozey tearing the charts up and all the beautiful female country singers flying to new heights, inspiring the world, that is exactly what motivates me."
In May 2024, Chibueze released his third studio album, Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going, which debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on the Top Country Albums chart. Its single A Bar Song (Tipsy) spent 19 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart (making it the longest-running number-one song of all time alongside Old Town Road).
Meanwhile, this is the first annual holiday matchup in favor of the Detroit Lions since 2016.
