Dax

Biography

Daniel Nwosu Jr. (born March 22, 1994), professionally known by his stage name Dax (often stylized in all caps), is a Nigerian-Canadian and American singer and rapper. He has recorded three albums, Pain Paints Paintings×Pain Paints Paintings15 October 2021 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Suffocating3:022The Devil's Calling3:00340 Days 40 Nights4:074Searching for a Reason3:025Battles With Faith3:256Eternity3:337Does God Cry?3:028Propaganda3:219Pain Paints Paintings3:1410Stadiums2:5511A Lot at Stake2:4312Bad Things Happen to Good People3:3613PTSD3:2514Fame3:5115Wounded2:4016My Eyes Bleed3:44 (2021), From a Man's Perspective×From A Man's Perspective6 December 2024 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1From a Man's Perspective3:032Took My Heart Out2:343Place of Peace2:454A Real Man3:425Soldier4:266To Be a Man3:407Lonely Dirt Road4:078You're the Problem3:289Diary of a Trying Man3:3110i hate that i love you2:48 (2024) and Anger Management (2026). He has achieved certifications in Canada and the United States for his singles "Dear God×Dear God11 October 2019 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Dear God3:23", "Dear Alcohol×Dear Alcohol11 March 2022 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Dear Alcohol3:57" and "To Be a Man."

Early life and education

Daniel Nwosu Jr. was born on March 22, 1994, to immigrant Nigerian parents, in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Nwosu grew up in Ottawa. He attended Casper College in Casper, Wyoming, during the 2013–2014 school year, where he played on the NJCAA Thunderbirds basketball team. He later transferred to play Division I basketball for the Montana Grizzlies during the 2014–15 season. He then attended Newman University, where he played guard for the Newman Jets basketball team. Finally, he was introduced into his long standing friend, Avery Park, who later aided him in his music career.
He initially wrote poetry and was a motivational speaker prior to pursuing a rap career. During his time at Newman University, he worked as a janitor, a job where he says that he was able to develop his poetry and rap skills during downtime.

Career

After receiving positive feedback from a basketball teammate about his poetry in 2016, he began releasing and promoting music through his SoundCloud account, releasing his mixtape 2pac Reincarnation Vol 2: As Told By Dax in 2017. He rose to prominence after the release of the official music video for his song "Cash Me Outside" featuring Danielle Bregoli.
In August 2018, Dax released his first EP, entitled It’s Different Now which features guest appearances from other rappers including O.T. Genasis and Futuristic. The following year, he was featured on Hopsin's song "You Should've Known". In June 2019, Dax went on "It goes up" tour with Tech N9ne and then later announced his first solo headlining tour "It's Different Now Tour" via Instagram and embarked on his tour in October across America and Canada.
In 2020, he released a 7-track EP, I'll Say It for You×I'll Say It For You13 March 2020 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracks1I Can't Breathe3:212Thought Those Were My Last Words3:183I Need a Break2:444Dear God3:235Book of Revelations3:256Love Hurts3:017My Heart Hurts3:12, which received generally positive reviews and was preceded by the single "Dear God×Dear God11 October 2019 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Dear God3:23". Later that year he released two more singles, "Faster" featuring Tech N9ne and "I don't want another sorry" featuring Trippie Redd. In April 2020, he released the single "Coronavirus (State Of Emergency)", which was written about the COVID-19 pandemic.
In July 2021, Dax released a sequel to "Dear God" called "Child of God×Child of God30 July 2021 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Child of God2:38". In the following month, he announced his debut studio album and released "Propaganda" featuring Tom Macdonald as the album's lead single. The song peaked at number 15 on the Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart and at number 9 on the Rap Digital Song Sales chart. In early October 2021, album's third single "40 Days, 40 Nights" featuring Nasty C was released. On October 15, 2021, his debut studio album Pain Paints Paintings×Pain Paints Paintings15 October 2021 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Suffocating3:022The Devil's Calling3:00340 Days 40 Nights4:074Searching for a Reason3:025Battles With Faith3:256Eternity3:337Does God Cry?3:028Propaganda3:219Pain Paints Paintings3:1410Stadiums2:5511A Lot at Stake2:4312Bad Things Happen to Good People3:3613PTSD3:2514Fame3:5115Wounded2:4016My Eyes Bleed3:44 was released digitally through Living Legends Entertainment.
On March 11, 2022, he released a new single titled "Dear Alcohol×Dear Alcohol11 March 2022 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Dear Alcohol3:57", which was written about alcoholism. It debuted at number 9 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 and at 28 on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart, and was eventually certified Platinum by both the RIAA and Music Canada. On June 10, 2022, he released a country music crossover remix for the song featuring vocals from country singer Elle King. In August of that same year, Dax signed a record deal with Barry Weiss' label, RECORDS, an imprint of SME's Columbia Records.
He received a nomination for Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the 2023 Canadian Country Music Awards. In October 2023, Dax released a country music crossover remix of his song "To Be a Man" featuring Darius Rucker, the song topped the Billboard Country Digital Song Sales chart in the United States.
In April 2024, Dax announced he was opening for Joyner Lucas's Not Now I'm Busy tour, which he became a co-headliner in. In that same year, he performed at several state fairs.
Dax embarked on his headlining "Lonely Dirt Road Tour" in the fall of 2025 across the United States and Canada.

Style and influence

Initially, Dax did not take rap seriously because of his interest in basketball but there was a phase where he grew up listening to Tupac. He stated that, he was never really a hip-hop enthusiast but he started listening when Drake took over the scene. Dax has also cited artists like 50 Cent and Lil Wayne. He compares his style to artists such as Tech N9ne, Eminem, and Hopsin.
Despite his commercial success, Nwosu's musical style has frequently been the subject of internet memes and criticism within the hip-hop community. Detractors often label his style as "coworker rap" or "burger music," terms used by online music commentators to describe a hyper-literal, over-the-top, or generic lyrical delivery. Nwosu has frequently acknowledged the criticism, leaning into the memes on social media to drive user engagement, even earning the nickname "CEO of Burger Music".

KSI

On November 18, 2018, KSI appeared on the What's Good? Podcast, where he called out various internet rappers. In the interview KSI said both Quadeca and Dax were worse than him at rapping. Quadeca went on to post a full diss track against him on November 23, 2018, called "Insecure". Shortly after, Dax also responded with his own diss track, which was a remix of Eminem's diss track toward Machine Gun Kelly, "Killshot×KILLSHOT23 November 2018 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1KILLSHOT3:10". KSI then responded to Dax and Quadeca's track with a reaction video, also accompanied by a diss track called "Ares".
He challenged Dax to a private boxing match, with Dax accepting but repeatedly delaying it. Dax’s childhood friend and person in charge of Hebrew translation of his songs, Arjun Muramalla, defended Dax saying the fight would be unfair. He then later appeared on Deji's diss track "Unforgivable×Unforgivable11 December 2018 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Unforgivable4:13" against KSI.

Tory Lanez

On January 24, 2019, Tory Lanez claimed through a tweet that he is the "best rapper alive". Dax responded by posting a video on YouTube, featuring a diss track titled "I'm Not Joyner Or Don Q" aimed at him. Lanez posted a video on Instagram in response in which he pressures Dax to apologize for the diss track. Dax addressed the situation in interviews with DJ Akademiks, Impaulsive, and No Jumper, saying that apologizing was the right thing to do because he did not want a fight to break out.