Emily Ratajkowski's rumoured beau Shaboozey on meaning behind stage name

Country singer Shaboozey is opening up about how much his stage name means to him.

Collins Obinna Chibueze, who goes by the stage name Shaboozey, recently detailed how a teacher's mispronunciation of the singer's name back in high school led to his nickname in the premises and eventually on stage.

“It could be a little confusing at times,” he said of growing up in the then-rural town of Woodbridge, Virginia. “Hearing your name [mispronounced] during attendance was always a thing; you felt like you had to make it easier for everyone else to understand.”

His last, Chibueze, which means “God is king” in Igbo, is not the only sweet thing about him as the musician then detailed his intention behind choosing "country" as his genre instead of hip-hop—despite being of Nigerian descent.

"The rap we looked at on TV was always glamourised. That wasn’t the reality for everybody," he explained. 

"No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t write music in that world. I found country music could teach people that the little things in life are where the value is. Just having a working truck that you can take your girl in to ride to a cliff and watch the sunset is enough."

The Virginia-born singer also revealed that his first country record Wrangler is indefinitely shelved because “something in my head told me, ‘The world ain’t ready for this.'" 

The album, which was created in 2016, was set aside in favour of his official debut, 2018's Lady Wrangler.

Recently in May, Shaboozey released his third album Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going. He can also be heard on Beyoncé's hotly-dropped Cowboy Carter cuts Spaghettii and Sweet Honey Buckiin.

As for his rumoured romance with entrepreneur and model Emily Ratajkowski aka Emrata, the pair last made headlines in August when they were spotted meeting backstage at his Z100 Summer Bash concert in New York City.

On another occasion, the two reportedly held hands at a Manhattan nightclub, TMZ reported around the same time.

Sources familiar with the situation told the outlet they’re not officially dating but they are hanging out and seeing where things go.