The year so far has featured a number of exciting new artist stories, with Benson Boone, Chappell Roan and Tommy Richman topping the charts for the first time. But perhaps no artist has had a more historic rise in 2024 so far than Shaboozey, whose “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” became his first No. 1 song on the Hot 100 this week — a huge accomplishment for the artist, team and its partner, EMPIRE.
The achievement comes more than a month after the release of Shaboozey's latest album, Where I've been is not where I'm going, which debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, a career-best mark. But its importance goes far beyond that. After two guest spots on Beyoncé Cowboy Carter The album helped introduce him to the public, Shaboozey released “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and saw it become the first song in history to reach the top 10 on the Country, Pop, Adult Pop and Rhythmic Airplay charts – a true a testament to his cross-genre, or even genre-less, appeal, he's the first Black artist and second Black artist overall after Beyoncé earlier this year to top both the Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs.
It's also a big milestone for EMPIRE, who started their Nashville division in 2019 and started working with Shaboozey a few years ago. After his release Cowboys live forever, outlaws never die album in October 2022, EMPIRE threw the weight of the company behind the singer, bringing the full force of its marketing, A&R and global teams, as well as devising the radio strategy that helped achieve such a historic result. And the achievement helps to become the EMPIRE COO Nima Etminan Advertising sign's Executive of the Week.
Here, Etminan, who alongside the founder/CEO of the company Gas pedal has turned EMPIRE into an independent force for more than a decade now, talks about the company-wide strategy that helps fuel Shaboozey's work, as well as what his recent music achievements mean for the industry and for the EMPIRE itself. “We're scratching the surface of an artist of tremendous talent, depth and longevity,” Etminan says of Shaboozey. “He has stories to tell, feelings to share and hearts to touch. I think we'll be seeing him play in arenas around the world for many years to come and I'm excited to be there for it every step of the way.”
This week, Shaboozey's “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” hit No. 1 on the Hot 100. What key decision did you make to help it do that?
Shaboozey's project was an “all hands on deck” experience at EMPIRE. A key decision was to involve every department in every region early on – everyone played a part in this record in one way, shape or form. It's hard to pinpoint specific decisions with such a long song. it is the culmination of efforts.
This is Shaboozey's first No.1 single after spending the last few years working with him. How did you help him evolve to get to this point and how did you help the song reach these heights?
We saw potential in Shaboozey from our first meeting with him. He was passionate, talented and had a clear vision of what he was trying to achieve, but he was still walking his way to success in this industry. One of the key decisions was made after the release of Boozey's first album called EMPIRE Cowboys live forever, outlaws never die — him and his manager Abas Pauti he called me in late 2022 trying to figure out the next moves and we decided to bring him closer to the EMPIRE umbrella. His potential as a global star was becoming apparent, and we brought in marketing and A&R resources from our San Francisco headquarters to complement what our Nashville team was doing on the ground. We worked closely with its managers, Abas and Jared [Cotter] and the upward curve began with the release of “Let It Burn” in the fall of 2023. It became clear that we had something very special on our hands, and the building began to rally around it.
This achievement also comes five years after EMPIRE launched its Nashville division. How did you create and grow this aspect of the business and how do you continue to support it moving forward?
Our Nashville segment kicked off 2019 in earnest with Willie Jones. Willie was not active at the time and had no music outside of the old days The X Factor audition video that went viral a few years ago. He was a Black Country artist with an incredible voice and Gazi and I decided to take a chance and do a deal with him. From there, we started getting a staff on the ground and slowly built a name for EMPIRE in Nashville — brick by brick. Ghazi firmly believed that country music would follow in the footsteps of urban music only a few years later—and he was right. The city was ripe for new energy and we were quickly able to sign an impressive roster of artists and develop some amazing talent on both the record and publishing side. We've been pushing Nashville for five years now and plan to continue to do so.
Shaboozey is the first black artist, and the second black artist overall since Beyoncé earlier this year, to top both the Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs. What is the significance of this to you and to him?
It's a sign of the times — genres are merging, styles are mixing, and the public's musical taste is broader than ever. Artists don't need to be put into boxes — be it by race, genre or era. Good music is good music and listeners can largely dictate the charts.
The song is the first in history to reach the top 10 of the Country, Pop, Adult Pop and Rhythmic Airplay charts. What was your children's radio strategy?
There were many Many we doubt our ability to work this record on the radio. The industry loves to tell independents that there is an upper limit to what they can do on their own and this was no different. They told us it couldn't be done, and as we like to do, we proved them wrong. We put together a fantastic team that we had absolute faith in — and it paid off.
This feat also marks an incredible first half for Shaboozey overall, with his two Beyoncé guest spots Cowboy Carter and the No. 5 debut of his own album, Where I've been is not where I'm going. How does it move things forward from here?
As cliche as it sounds, this is just the beginning for Shaboozey. The record has a lot of life in it and some incredible songs that we will be working on. We are scratching the surface of an artist of immense talent, depth and longevity. He has stories to tell, feelings to share and hearts to touch. I believe we will be seeing him play in arenas around the world for many years to come and I'm excited to be there for it every step of the way.
You've been with Ghazi basically since the beginning of EMPIRE, helping build that company. What does achieving that No. 1 mean to you?
My path started in hip-hop. I started as a fan of rap music in Germany, where I grew up, launching DubCNN, a platform specifically focused on West Coast hip-hop. This brought me to California, building friendships with some of my favorite artists growing up and meeting Ghazi in 2008 through Daz Dillinger. My only goal at the time was to find a way to make a decent living doing something in music. No. 1 Advertising sign Records weren't on my radar — I loved underground music and I loved helping new artists get an audience. But I saw the potential of what I did when I watched Kendrick Lamar go from an unknown mixtape artist when I first interviewed him in 2007, to a household name after his EMPIRE release. Section.80 and finally the biggest rapper in the world.
Ghazi and I share a passion for culture, authenticity and good business. What matters most to us is doing things with integrity and leaving behind a legacy we can be proud of. There is a lot of nonsense going on in this industry. I have seen it from afar and experienced it first hand. If we wouldn't do it our way, we'd rather not do it at all. Shaboozey's success is just that. He's been through the mainstream, he's been seen behind the curtain, and to work with someone like him, who shares similar values and ethics, and to take a record to the top is extremely gratifying. However, I'd be lying if I said it was a goal I thought about or set out to achieve — I never chased awards, charts, or any kind of external validation. But I'm thankful for it when it happens.
