At its opening, Shaboozey’s fourth album, The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales, presents an abrupt departure from his 2024 platinum success Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going. In the two years since its release, the Virginia native (born Collins Obinna Chibueze) has been catapulted into a Grammy-winning, Billboard-topping household name thanks to his eclectic Americana/hip-hop fusion and feel-good hits “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and “Good News”. Shaboozey’s innovative blurring of genre lines, marrying country influences with chart-topping pop beats, pivoted modern music into a new direction, leaving fans and critics alike eager for more.
From the outset, however, The Outlaw Cherie Lee bears an intensity that was absent from Where I’ve Been and instead harkens back to Shaboozey‘s trap-influenced second studio release, 2022’s Cowboys Live Forever, Outlaws Never Die. An ambitious Western concept album, The Outlaw Cherie Lee, opens with an intro by Jamie Foxx that introduces the saga of a woman seeking to avenge the death of her father. Early tracks lean heavily into Shaboozey’s rap roots; the percussion is more thundering than ever, Shaboozey’s drawl unabashedly Southern, set against violin backdrops and Western-tinged spoken interludes. However, under the thick beats of “Til Sunday” and “High Noon”, one thing is already clear: Shaboozey is not backing down from his status as pop’s most undefinable outlaw.
At times, The Outlaw Cherie Lee struggles to find a middle ground. After a hip-hop-centric start, “Sweet Revenge” and “If I Was an Outlaw” have all the trappings of classic country ballads. These broad strides into hip-hop and Americana risk alienating mainstream listeners as they stray further from the very pop hybrid that made Shaboozey famous. At the same time, the string of featured musicians—including Kehlani, Leon Bridges, and Teyana Taylor—sometimes feels distracting rather than complementary. The interludes can interrupt the pacing, pulling the listener out of the flow just as it’s ramping up.
However, a familiarity returns with “Cowgirl”, a spiritual descendant of “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” that brings back the upbeat, pop-saturated chorus. It’s apparent Shaboozey finds his comfort zone in lyrics about booze and line-dancing ladies. The triumph of “Cowgirl”, though, raises the concern that despite all Shaboozey’s strengths, the height of his success may be forever limited to bar songs.
Fortunately, the remainder of the album proves that fear unwarranted. “Burn It Down” arrives with an unexpected 1990s rock undertone, an abrupt departure that somehow feels grounding. Leon Bridges’ guest appearance further stretches The Outlaw Cherie Lee’s constraints, reinforcing its position as gloriously undefinable and creatively limitless. The song is unlike anything Shaboozey has released to date, and that alone pushes it to the top of the LP’s successes.
Later down the track list, a succession of ballads turns The Outlaw Cherie Lee on its head once again. “Drunk”, reminiscent of Where I’ve Been’s Noah Cyrus duet “My Fault,” taps into Shaboozey’s soulful side, followed by “Bullets and Blades” and “Coyotes Point”. The decision to group similar tracks feels intentional, as if listeners are being led on a tour through the scope of Shaboozey’s creative prowess. As the record reaches its final push, it’s revived by the Avicii-tinged club anthem “Born to Die”, cementing its genre-circumventing powers.\
It’s tempting to read The Outlaw Cherie Lee as a cultural concept album as much as a musical concept. In the two politically turbulent years since his fame skyrocketed, Shaboozey, the son of Nigerian immigrants, has been outspoken in his appreciation of the Black and immigrant communities. By merging seemingly isolated musical concepts, he has created an artistic melting pot that mimics the diversity on which humanity is built. The album is a resoundingly successful testament to the fact that, much like the people who have influenced it, musical movements can become even greater than the sum of their parts.
Shaboozey fans who worried mainstream success would dilute his style can breathe easy with The Outlaw Cherie Lee. The ability to compile tracks that reach to the far ends of the musical spectrum together into a concept album proves Shaboozey is just beginning to tap into an artistic breadth that shouldn’t be underestimated. He manages his unique approach with a fearlessness that pays off in successes like “Burn It Down”, proving that evolution isn’t linear. The Outlaw Cherie Lee ventures into uncharted territory without abandoning the very traits that made Shaboozey successful in the first place; it proves he’s not just a master at the middle ground, but at both ends of the spectrum too.