Drawing from a kaleidoscope of musical genres and pop-culture influences, Virginia rapper Shaboozey makes music that’s highly stylized yet authentic.
• Shaboozey was raised outside of Washington, D.C., in Fairfax, Virginia, by Nigerian parents. His moniker is a play on mispronunciations of his last name. He goes by “Boozey” for short.
• He regularly titles his songs after pop-culture figures. Noteworthy examples include his 2014 breakthrough “Jeff Gordon,” the Led Zeppelin–sampling “Robert Plant,” and “Joan Jett.”
• In addition to rapping, singing, and producing, Shaboozey is a filmmaker and a writer.
• On the strength of his self-recorded songs, including the boisterous “Jeff Gordon” and the trap-inspired “Starfoxx,” Shaboozey landed a deal with Republic Records in 2017.
• Shaboozey and his Republic labelmate Duckwrth partnered on “Start a Riot,” from 2018’s Grammy-nominated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack.
• In late 2018, Shaboozey released his debut project, Lady Wrangler. The multi-genre LP includes the slow and melodic single “Winning Streak,” which surpassed 10 million streams.