Cody Johnson's Producer, Trent Willmon, Appears to Take a Dig at Shaboozey During 2024 CMA Awards

When it was announced during the 2024 CMA Awards that Cody Johnson's 2023 record, Leather, had won Album of the Year, it was a celebratory moment for country music as a whole. The man warmly known as CoJo has been toiling away as a road warrior for almost two decades, and it's great to see the Texan receiving recognition.

However, the triumph was marred by what appears to be a slight directed at ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ hitmaker, Shaboozey, from Cody Johnson's Leather producer, Trent Willmon.

During the acceptance speech, Willmon stepped up to the microphone and spotlighted the collaborative effort behind Leather, “It takes an army of people to make a great record”.

Then, Trent Willmon decided to pay tribute to Cody Johnson with a bizarre turn of phrase, “But I got to tell you, this is for this cowboy who's been kicking Shaboozey for a lot of years”.

Some have speculated that he meant to say ‘Shabooty’, and was trying to deliver a laboured play on words, but it certainly feels like this was a pointed remark about Shaboozey's genre-blending style. Shaboozey's high-energy performance of ’A Bar Song (Tipsy)’, which recently broke Morgan Wallen's record for the longest-running Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 of the 2020s, was loved by many, but came under fire online by traditionalists criticising the Hip Hop elements present in the track.

Following the conclusion of the 2024 CMA Awards, Shaboozey responded with a light-hearted photo of him on his tour-bus, alongside the caption, “Ain't nobody kicking me!”

Many fans have argued that Trent Willmon, who comes from a classic Texas country background, may harbour a distaste for this style of music, with a range of fans also taking to socials to joke about George Strait's seemingly vexed expression when watching Shaboozey's performance alongside his wife, Norma, and Post Malone.

If Trent Willmon's comment was intended as a dig at Shaboozey, then it has put a negative tint on Cody Johnson's victory. Country music has always been a breeding ground for trailblazing innovation and new sub-genres, so for Willmon to supposedly begrudge Shaboozey his success would be a highly unsavoury move from the Texan.

We'll have to wait and see if anyone from CoJo or Willmon's team comes out and clarifies the remark or apologises, but either way, it seems the majority of fans toasted Shaboozey for his performance, and the new listeners he continues to bring to the genre.

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