Fireworks shot into the air, bursting above the star shaped rodeo stage as Shaboozey walked toward one of the star’s edge points and took in the NRG Stadium audience screaming at the top of their lungs.
“I’m playing the got damn Houston rodeo. This is a dream,” he muttered, almost speaking to himself as though the 70,000 plus crowd was not cheering around him. “I love y’all so much.”
Moments later the stage lights flashed, and even more fireworks began shooting above the dirt covered field as BigXthaPlug took the stage. The two stood there as BigX, donning all black leather, and Shaboozey in brown as the bassline from “I’m From Texas” filled the stadium.
This is not Shaboozey’s first time in Houston on a major stage. He performed at 713 Music Hall back in October for the eighth stop on his first national headlining tour, the Great American Roadshow Tour. It is not even his first time on the floor of NRG Stadium, as he appeared as part of Beyoncé’s Christmas Day halftime show, which fans quickly nicknamed the Beyoncé Bowl. This is Shaboozey’s first rodeo.
Shaboozey arrives at the rodeo continuing a moment that has been building for years. Born Collins Obinna Chibueze and raised in Virginia, he spent much of the last decade carving out a lane that pulls from hip hop, country and rock. Early releases built a loyal following online and on the road, but the scale of his career shifted in 2024. That year he released “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” built around an interpolation of J-Kwon’s 2004 hit “Tipsy.”
The country crossover spent 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, streamed more than a billion times globally, earned Grammy nominations and Billboard awards, and helped make Shaboozey the first Black male artist to top Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in more than a decade. His appearance on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter continued to introduce him to wider audiences and his sound has turned Shaboozey into one of the most recognizable new voices in music. The momentum behind him now brings him back to the floor of NRG Stadium for a new milestone in his career.
A milestone he was more than ready to step up to. His show moves from party, running through hits like “Tall Boy” and “Drink Don’t Need No Mix,” to more reflective moments with “Amen” and “Let It Burn.” At one point he paused the show to give a prayer and tell a story about a preacher giving him words of wisdom before his career even got off the ground.
“My mantra is if God didn’t want me to be here, I wouldn’t be here,” he testified to the crowd Friday night. “If God didn’t want you to be in the position that he wanted you in then he wouldn’t put you there.”
That is the overall feeling Shaboozey gives from his show. Is there partying and fun? Yes of course, but overall, there is a feeling of an artist who is truly happy to be in the building, almost still surprised he is there, and more than grateful to have the opportunity. From the moment he emerged from a stagecoach drawn by four horses it was obvious Shaboozey was fully in the rodeo spirit and ready to put on a show.
“Houston how y’all feeling? I thank y’all so much for being here tonight,” he said as the lights dimmed and the screens behind him began to show images of flickering flames. “I’m just feeling all types of love right now and I can’t begin to describe it. This is the biggest place I’ve ever played in my life and will probably ever play. I’m happy to be here again.”
Playlist
Last of My Kind
Annabelle
Blink Twice
Tallboy
Drink Don’t Need No Mix
Highway
Took a Walk
Family Tradition
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Amen
Let It Burn
I’m From Texas – BigXthaPlug
The Largest – BigXthaPlug
A Bar Song (Tipsy)
