It’s no secret that Shaboozey has enjoyed a quick rise into stardom in the last year and a half. Obviously, he had the catchy hit song “A Bar Song(Tipsy),” which put him on the map, and exploded from there. Being one of the top summer songs (and year overall), you couldn’t look anywhere without seeing “Boozey’s” face. Appearances like the Nerds Super Bowl commercial (which seemingly comes on every 30 seconds today), along with his very public personality at countless appearances at award shows, festivals, etc., make the 29-year-old impossible to escape.
Shaboozey is just under a year out from his album Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going. It’s a very fitting album title. He has faced lots of adversity throughout his career, including getting dropped by his former label. He’s been deep in the dumps, but that’s not where he is going. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Shaboozey is going up, and he is doing so quickly.
The album earned him multiple Grammy nominations, including New Artist, Song, Country Song, and Country Solo Performance. Understandably, most of those nominations are for “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” but that track is on the record nonetheless. While this album saw so much success, there was one catch: it wasn’t that good. That’s not to discredit Shaboozey for a fantastic year. But from start to finish, the album felt like one never-ending song that never made a mark. There are no real energy shifts; every song sounds the exact same, creating an endless blend. It undoubtedly has its audience, but it didn’t seem worth all that hype.
Nearly a year later, Shaboozey released the deluxe version of the record titled Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going: The Complete Edition. This felt like a huge opportunity. “The Complete Edition” opens the door to highlight his growth and show what this chapter of his life has taught him. Simply put, it was finally a chance for the record to feel complete. The last year has been a whirlwind for the Virginia native, a changed man. Yes, someone can go from nothing to something and be the same person with the same morals. But it’s an experience that will teach someone a lot about themselves.
In a perfect world, we would’ve seen the character development from the past year. It’s not that we don’t, but not nearly to the desired level. In short, this album just feels like a playlist of songs, and that’s it. This felt like an opportunity for Shaboozey to go really deep with his emotions. Instead, it’s so surface-level that you learn little about Shaboozey or his growth over the last year’s craziness. These six songs just aren’t very personal and don’t give a listener anything real to grasp onto.
Multiple features include Jelly Roll, Sierra Ferrell, and Myles Smith. These add a definite ‘cool factor’ to the record – Sierra Ferrell’s especially, but outside of hers, there just isn’t much to say about their actual substance.
Jelly Roll joined Shaboozey for “Amen,” which is exactly what you would expect from a song with these two. It sticks to the classic story that Jelly has been telling for as long as we can remember. It’s a plea for mercy as they are down badly and need someone to pray for them to get out of the dark place. This 100% will mean a lot to a large audience, as there are sadly a lot of people who can relate. Still, it feels like a broken record. Unfortunately, a once-powerful cry for help has become nothing more than background noise that triggers annoyance.
“Hail Mary” with Sierra Ferrell is the best track from the new bunch. You wouldn’t expect it with their different vibes, but the two actually sound fantastic together and have great chemistry. Leaning more towards a folk sound, the production stays pretty laid-back, which isn’t typically Shaboozey’s speed. They are throwing a “Hail Mary” to save a failed relationship. It seems like it would be corny, but the vulnerable lyrics, matched with the soft production, yield an impressively raw and authentic result. It’s a nice change of pace for his songs that had developed a bit of a twang, but were still very much rooted in more pop/hip-hop-based foundations.
The best way to describe the sound of this record overall is the overly cheery, pop music of the pandemic, like “Sunday Best” by Surfaces. These parallels are mainly rooted in their vocals, as the sounds are similar but fit the production well. Even in the darker songs, the production is generally pretty upbeat.It’s not a bad sound by any means; it feels slightly corny and even a little outdated. Those types of songs can conjure up nostalgia, but now, it feels like hopping on a wave that has already crashed. As a result, it just doesn’t hit as well as it could’ve.
When Shaboozey strips things down and focuses on his artistry as a singer, he is truly talented. He just is slow to show off that side of himself, which is unfortunate. He has become one of the most recognized new artists, and his raw talent isn’t even the highlight of his path to superstardom. Even in the new deluxe songs, he doesn’t highlight his impressive vocals and authenticity, which could be what elevates him to the next level. Instead, it focuses on the same inoffensive, adult-contemporary country sound that keeps him in the background. If you have heard one Shaboozey song, you have heard most of his catalog, and that was once again an issue here, as these six songs blend monotonously together, similar to the original release last year. While Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going: The Complete Edition could’ve been worse, it still wasn’t very good and unquestionably left people wanting more.
