He made history with a song that spent 19 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. He performed alongside Beyoncé at an NFL Halftime Show. He earned five Grammy nominations in a single year.
By every measure, Shaboozey had the biggest breakout of 2024. And yet, while the world was learning everything about his music, one chapter stayed almost completely off-limits: his love life.
For an artist who suddenly became one of the most talked-about names in the industry, Shaboozey has managed to keep his romantic life surprisingly quiet. Almost. For a few weeks in the summer of 2024, one high-profile name entered the picture, and the internet could not stop talking about it.
Here is everything that is known about Shaboozey’s dating history, and everything he has chosen not to share.
Is Shaboozey in a Relationship? His Current Status as of 2026
Born Collins Obinna Chibueze on May 9, 1995, Shaboozey is a Virginia-raised, Nigerian-heritage artist whose music blends country, Americana, and hip-hop. He spent a decade grinding before fame found him. And even after fame arrived, his personal life stayed locked behind a wall that most celebrities never bother building.
As of 2026, Shaboozey has not confirmed being in a relationship with anyone. Sources with direct knowledge confirmed to TMZ as recently as February 2026 that he and fellow artist SZA, who had been linked together by fans through a series of social media clues and public event appearances, were never romantically involved and their relationship has always been platonic.
The SZA speculation had begun gaining traction in mid-2025, after Shaboozey posted and later deleted an Instagram photo dump that included a video clip many fans believed featured her. Side-by-side comparisons of outfits and movements circulated widely, with fans convinced something romantic was happening. It turned out to be nothing more than creative friendship and overzealous internet detective work.
So where does that leave his actual romantic history? With one notable name from the summer of 2024.
Shaboozey and Emily Ratajkowski: What Happened in August 2024
Rumors kicked off in early August 2024 when Shaboozey, then 29, and model and actress Emily Ratajkowski, 33, were spotted together multiple times within the same week, including an instance where they were seen holding hands.
According to reports, their connection may have started as early as Michael Rubin’s Fourth of July White Party in the Hamptons, with subsequent sightings including a dinner at Maison Close in Soho. Nobody had officially introduced them, and no one was talking. But New York City has eyes everywhere.
What made the pairing so interesting was the contrast. Ratajkowski was one of the most photographed women in the world, a veteran of celebrity relationship coverage, someone who had been linked to Harry Styles, Pete Davidson, and Eric Andre.
Shaboozey, on the other hand, was the new guy. His budding connection with Ratajkowski was described as his first time in the public relationship scene. For someone who had spent years trying to get his music heard, suddenly being gossip column material was entirely new territory.
Public Sightings and Events Where the Two Were Spotted Together
The appearances happened fast and close together, which is part of what made the story feel so significant at the time.
They were first seen together on August 6 at Rema’s album release party at Musica nightclub in New York City, where they reportedly walked in hand-in-hand at around 11 pm. A source said they were not trying to be discreet at all.
Just two days later, Ratajkowski showed up to support Shaboozey at his Z100 Summer Bash performance, standing in the front row while he performed. She was not a background presence. She was front and center, dancing to his music, and chatting with him backstage afterward.
They were also spotted leaving a screening of the film Blink Twice in New York City, further adding to the trail of sightings that had fans and tabloids piecing the story together.
Three separate sightings in less than two weeks. For someone who had never been publicly linked to anyone before, Shaboozey was suddenly everywhere with one of the most recognizable faces in the world.
What Sources Said About the Reported Casual Nature of the Situation
Despite the excitement online, people close to the situation were quick to pump the brakes.
Sources told TMZ that the two were not officially dating and that their connection was very casual, with neither party in a serious relationship. The practical reality was also noted: Ratajkowski was based in New York City while Shaboozey was deep into a heavy touring schedule that summer as he capitalized on the massive success of “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”
Still, not everyone was buying the “just casual” framing. A separate insider told another outlet that the two were genuinely taken with each other, describing Shaboozey as down-to-earth and humble despite his newfound fame, and suggesting that Ratajkowski was excited about where things could go.
The truth likely lived somewhere in the middle. Two busy people, at very different stages of their public lives, enjoying each other’s company in the middle of a summer that was changing everything for one of them. By the time fall arrived, the sightings had stopped, and neither party ever made an official statement about what it was or what it became.
June 2024 Cannes Performance: His Own Hints About a Past Breakup
Here is something that often gets overlooked in the Shaboozey dating conversation. Before the Emily Ratajkowski chapter even started, he had already given the public a rare glimpse into his emotional world.
Back in June 2024, during a performance in Cannes, Shaboozey paused before performing his song “Let It Burn” and told the audience that he had recently gone through a breakup, visibly emotional in the moment. He described the person as someone amazing who had helped him grow.
It was one of the most honest and unguarded things he had said publicly about his private life. And it revealed something important: there had been someone significant before the spotlight found him. Someone whose identity he has never disclosed. Someone the public may never know about.
That unnamed relationship, and the quiet way he grieved it on a stage in the south of France, says more about who Shaboozey is than any paparazzi photo ever could.
Why Shaboozey Keeps His Romantic Life Largely Out of the Spotlight
There is a pattern here, and it is not accidental.
Before the Ratajkowski rumors surfaced, reports noted that Shaboozey had kept his dating life firmly under wraps, with the only public acknowledgment being a passing mention of a recent amicable split. No names. No details. Just a quiet acknowledgment that something had ended.
This is not the behavior of someone who is hiding something scandalous. It reads more like someone who spent a decade in near-total obscurity, worked on his craft without cameras around, and developed a personal life that existed entirely apart from the music industry machine. Privacy was not a strategy for Shaboozey. It was just how he lived.
And then overnight, everything changed. The Beyoncé collaboration. The chart records. The Grammy nominations. The late-night television appearances. The brand deals. Fame arrived so quickly and so completely that maintaining any sense of a private life required deliberate, consistent effort.
How His Focus on Music and Filmmaking Shapes His Personal Life Choices
To understand why Shaboozey guards his personal life, it helps to understand who he was before anyone knew his name.
Before music fully took over, he was interested in filmmaking and writing. He even founded his own production company, V Picture Films, in 2014, the same year he released his first single. He was not just a singer. He was a storyteller who happened to find his best medium through sound.
In a Billboard interview following his Grammy nominations, Shaboozey spoke about finally being able to make music without pressure, focusing now on deeper creative work after spending years grinding toward a breakthrough. This is someone whose identity is rooted in the work itself, not the celebrity that surrounds it.
That creative seriousness appears to carry over into how he handles his personal life, too. Alongside music and filmmaking, Shaboozey has cited influences ranging from Martin Scorsese films to Fela Kuti to Led Zeppelin, suggesting an artistic sensibility that draws inward rather than outward.
For an artist shaped by years of obscurity and storytelling, keeping romance private is not just a preference. It is consistent with everything about how he moves through the world. His music can be vulnerable and raw. His personal life does not have to be.
What we know about Shaboozey’s dating history is brief: an unnamed woman who mattered enough to bring him to tears on a stage, a few headline-grabbing weeks with one of the most photographed women in the world, and then silence. No confirmations. No breakup announcements. No relationship timelines posted for public consumption.
For someone whose song played everywhere in 2024, that kind of quiet is almost impressive.
