Shaboozey sold out Billy Bob’s Texas in his first headlining show. He comes back North Texas this week.

Elijah Smith

North Texas has become a second home for Shaboozey within the last two years. From shutting down the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge for a music video, to selling out Billy Bob’s, to celebrating best friend BigXthaPlug’s birthday at Dos Equis Pavilion, the Grammy-winning singer has made fond memories in North Texas.

He’ll make more this weekend at South Side Ballroom during his The Outlaws Never Die Tour, a concert that blends music and theater to tell the artist’s story as a genre-bending country star. 

Shaboozey has upended modern music with unique fusions of country, hip-hop and Americana music. His breakout single, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” topped Billboard’s Hot 100 for 19 weeks in 2024. In 2026, he won a Grammy for “Amen,” a collaboration with Jelly Roll. The popularity made his latest release, “The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales,” one of the year’s most anticipated albums.

“We perform every song on the album, you know what I mean?” he says to the Observer. “We get to touch every song, and it really feels like the music is elevated. I can’t wait to sing ‘Bullets and Blaze.’ … I think people are gonna be really impressed with how we were able to bring the old music with the new music, and it still felt like, ‘Dang, that was a crazy show.’”

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Creating a country concept

The 20-song concept album unfolds like a film, telling the story of an adventure-driven female outlaw, Cherie Lee.

“I love stories,” he says. “I love hearing people’s stories. I love stories that are fictional, some that are real, hearing about the story, about the neighbor across the street. Stories, I think, really are what tie us all together, and what keep us going, and that’s why we’re here, is to create stories.” 

After achieving award-winning success last year, he felt this album left him the creative freedom to tell a story he’d always dreamed of. 

“On this album, getting the opportunity to do that with ‘The Outlaw Cherie Lee,’ it just felt … timely,” he says. “It’s been a project I’ve been wanting to do, like a dream of mine, that I’ve wanted since I started making music. So to be able to do it now, I’m blessed, and I hope people enjoy the album.”

As a first-generation Nigerian-American, Shaboozey finds the craft of storytelling deeply important.

“The tradition of folk telling and folktales comes from West Africa, just like the banjo, or just like other instruments,” he says. “These are stories that were brought over with us, and permeated through American society, and those things still hold true in our DNA, in our ancestry, so it felt natural … when I started making music, and telling my story, and speaking my truth, it came out as what we hear now.”

North Texas ties

The latest album features Fort Worth native Leon Bridges, and Shaboozey has previously collaborated with BigX. Now, with all three at the top of the music industry, fans are begging them to release a record together. There is hope that he, BigX and Bridges will collaborate on a song in the future.

“[Leon and I] did it once, so, you know, I don’t see why we wouldn’t do it again,” says Shaboozey. “I’m just like, Leon, BigX … it might be a reunion.”

Shaboozey and BigX have grown particularly close, bonding over their musical and personal overlaps after the latter’s runaway success with a country crossover last year.

“I remember hearing ‘Texas,’ the song, way before ‘A Bar Song’ came out,” he says. “He had the cowboy hat with the horse, and I was like, ‘Man, I gotta meet this guy.’ That’s like my brother. His family’s always so kind to me, so being there is always a good time.”

Texas has served Shaboozey well, particularly in its barbecue offerings (which he says are the best) and in true Southern hospitality.

“[Texas] has this homey vibe; it really feels like you’re with your people, you know?,” he says. “It’s a melting pot of so many different cultures. I know there’s a lot of Nigerians in Dallas and Houston. Everybody’s over there … it just really feels like I’m home.” 

Shaboozey brings his The Outlaws Never Die Tour on Saturday, Sept. 12, to the South Side Ballroom (1135 Botham Jean Blvd.).