The title of Shaboozey’s 2024 breakthrough album, “Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going,” now reads like a quiet bit of foreshadowing — a hint he dropped before taking a sharp turn into his own cinematic frontier.

That collection’s swaggering “Bar Song (Tipsy)” garnered a Grammy nomination, while “Good News,” a heavyhearted, reflective country and folk song, followed.

His 2026 concept album, “The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales,” marks an 180-degree turn. The tale — about Lee, a Black cowgirl seeking revenge in the Old West — unfolds over a soundtrack blending traditional country with contemporary hip-hop, R&B and soul. 

Fans can relive the story when Shaboozey kicks off his “Outlaws Never Die Tour” on Tuesday, Sept. 8, at the Arizona Financial Theatre in Phoenix. 

Shaboozey admitted, via Zoom, that he is nervous about the “Outlaws Never Die Tour.” 

“It’s such an ambitious thing,” he said. “I’m just so precious about this album and this tour and bringing the world of Outlaw Cherie Lee to stages.” The 6-foot-4 Shaboozey, born Collins Obinna Chibueze, was just as apprehensive about releasing a Black Western drama through music; a period piece built not for film but for the stage. 

Concept albums are notoriously difficult — a balancing act between narrative clarity and musical cohesion, he said. Shaboozey didn’t sugarcoat it.

“It was very hard to put a story, especially a period piece, a Western drama, into an album,” said Shaboozey, 31. 

“You want listeners to stay engaged, but you also want them to understand this story and still take away everything you want them to. It definitely was a challenge, but I have a great team and great fans, and I think we did it.”

There were moments when he wondered if the story was too ambitious and sprawling. But his team kept him steady. 

“They told me this was something I owed to myself to do,” he said. 

“They said, ‘This is something that no one else in music is doing. People are going to appreciate it. And, honestly, you’ve already won by taking a risk to create a project like this.’” 

“The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales” features a mélange of guests: Jamie Foxx, Gunna, Leon Bridges, Sam Elliott, Orville Peck, and Teyana Taylor. A standout on “The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales” is “Bullets & Blades,” Shaboozey’s duet with Kehlani, which layers his country style over her R&B vocals.

“I think she was so perfect on the record,” he said. “We sent her an open verse. We didn’t give her any idea of what the song was about. We didn’t say, ‘This is what you should write about.’ She just wrote that, and I think that is just telling of how she was the perfect person for that record.” 

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Humble beginnings

The young “Collins” was raised in Woodbridge, Virginia, by Igbo Nigerian parents, and spent two years at a Nigerian boarding school. He graduated from Gar-Field Senior High School back home, with very little experience with concerts. 

“I wasn’t able to go to a lot of those things because I felt like a lot of our favorite artists didn’t really stop by Virginia,” he said. 

He does remember the Trillectro Music Festival in Washington, D.C., that exposed him to an eclectic mix of artists, including SZA and Rae Sremmurd. 

“That, and having bluegrass roots, helped me create my own thing,” he said.

Like many performers, he had one of his first “shows” at a frat house, a sentiment he laughs at. 

“They gave me like $800,” he said, still amused by the memory. “That was the most money I’d seen in my life at that time.” 

Shaboozey fought his way to the top, literally. He recalled opening for American singer-songwriter Jessie Murph, worrying no one would know his songs. 

“I’m asking my managers, ‘Is anyone even going to show up? Who’s coming?’” he said. Minutes later, he walked onstage to a crowd singing along to a track that had been out for only days. That validated his dream. 

“It’s been a roller coaster,” he said. “One of those slow rises up, and then it just takes off.”

His first record, “Lady Wrangler,” was released in 2018, followed by 2024’s “Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going.”

His resume includes collaborations with Duckwrth and Beyonce, but he became a household name with “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” his stop-and-shout reimagining J-Kwon’s 2004 “Tipsy.” 

Besides the United States, the relentlessly addictive track also charted in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Norway, Austria, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Russia.

In November 2024, Shaboozey released his follow-up, the melancholy “Good News,” which he promoted at the Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day game. His high-profile appearances continued: “Saturday Night Live” in December 2024; and the 2024 NFL Halftime Show on Christmas Day with Post Malone.

Shaboozey has been honored for his work: “Amen,” a collaboration with Jelly Roll, won a Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. He was the first Black man to win a Grammy in that category. His music has garnered eight nominations. 

Fans, critics and other musicians have high hopes about “The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales.” Although the album is a fictional Western, the feelings of heartbreak, vengeance, longing and resolve are real.

As he steps into this new chapter — touring a concept album, inviting fans into a fictional world he built from scratch — he hopes people leave the show “chattering,” buzzing about the experience. “I hope people leave this show speaking about it in a positive way,” he said.