# Dax (rapper)

Daniel Nwosu Jr. (born March 22, 1994), professionally known by his stage name Dax (often stylized in all caps), is a Nigerian-Canadian rapper and singer-songwriter.

## Early life

Daniel Nwosu Jr. was born to immigrant Nigerian parents on March 22, 1994, 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 basketball team. He later transferred to play Division-1 basketball for the Montana Grizzlies during the 2014-15 season. He then attended the Newman University, where he played guard for the Newman Jets basketball team.
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, which received generally positive reviews and was preceded by the single "Dear God". 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". In the following month, he announced his debut studio album and released "Propaganda" featuring Tom Macdonald as 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 was released digitally through Living Legends Entertainment.
On March 11, 2022, he released a new single titled "Dear Alcohol", 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 Records, LLC and 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 headliner in. In that same year, he performed at several state fairs.

## Artistry
### 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.

## Feuds
### 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". 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. He then later appeared on Deji's diss track "Unforgivable" 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.

## Discography
### Studio albums

List of albums, with selected details :
| Title | Album details |
| Pain Paints Paintings | Released: October 15, 2021 Label: Living Legends Entertainment. Records Format: Digital download, streaming, CD |
| From a Man's Perspective | Released: December 6, 2024 Label: Records Label / Columbia Records Format: Digital download, streaming |

### Extended plays

List of extended plays, with selected details :
| Title | EP details |
| It's Different Now | Released: August 22, 2018 Label: Daniel Dax Entertainment Format: CD, Digital download, streaming |
| I'll Say It for You | Released: March 13, 2020 Label: Living Legends Entertainment, RBC, BMG Format: Digital download, streaming |
| What Is Life? | Released: August 18, 2023 Label: Records Label / Columbia Format: Digital download, streaming |

### Mixtapes

List of mixtapes, with selected details :
| Title | Album details |
| 2Pac Reincarnation Volume 2: As Told By Dax | Released: January 15, 2018 Label: Self-released Format: Digital download |

### Singles
#### As lead artist

List of singles as a lead artist, showing year released and album name :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
| Title | Year | US Bub. | US Cou. | US R&B/HH | Certifications | Album |
| "Be Your Fucking Self" | 2017 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Self Proclaimed" | 2017 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Snapchat" | 2017 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "I Want" | 2017 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Plan B" | 2018 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Don't Wanna Die Today" | 2018 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "YourWorthIt.org" (with Hopsin) | 2018 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "No Respect" (featuring Futuristic) | 2018 | — | — | — | | It's Different Now |
| "She Cheated Again" | 2018 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Dear Black Santa" | 2018 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "You Should've Known" (with Hopsin) | 2019 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Self Proclaimed 2" | 2019 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "My Last Words" | 2019 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "No Cappin" | 2019 | — | — | — | | It's Different Now |
| "All Night Long" | 2019 | — | — | — | | It's Different Now |
| "Did It First" | 2019 | — | — | — | | It's Different Now |
| "Wack Ass Rappers" | 2019 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Did It First" | 2019 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "I Been That" (featuring Emiway Bantai) | 2019 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Wack Ass Rappers 2" | 2019 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Killshot 2" | 2019 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Dear God" | 2019 | — | — | — | MC: Gold | I'll Say It for You |
| "Self Proclaimed 3" | 2019 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Dear Santa" | 2019 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Book of Revelations" | 2020 | — | — | — | | I'll Say It for You |
| "Joker" | 2020 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Godzilla" (Remix) | 2020 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Black Lives Matter" | 2020 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Faster" (featuring Tech N9ne) | 2020 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Gotham" | 2020 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Joker Returns" | 2020 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Grinch" | 2020 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "I Don't Want Another Sorry" (featuring Trippie Redd) | 2020 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Coronavirus" | 2020 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Killshot 3" | 2021 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Self Proclaimed 4" | 2021 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Apocalypse" | 2021 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Dear Mom" | 2021 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Rap Demi-God" | 2021 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "The Next Rap God" | 2021 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "The Next Rap God 2" | 2021 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Why So Serious" | 2021 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Propaganda" (featuring Tom MacDonald) | 2021 | — | — | — | | Pain Paints Paintings |
| "40 Days 40 Nights" (featuring Nasty C) | 2021 | — | — | — | | Pain Paints Paintings |
| "Dear Alcohol" | 2022 | 9 | 28 | — | RIAA: Platinum MC: 2× Platinum | What Is Life? |
| "Depression" | 2022 | — | — | — | | Non-album single |
| "To Be a Man" (solo or featuring Darius Rucker) | 2023 | 12 | 32 | — | MC: Gold RIAA: Gold | What Is Life? |
| "God's Eyes" | 2023 | — | — | — | | What Is Life? |
| "The Abyss" | 2023 | — | — | — | | What Is Life? |
| "A Real Man" | 2024 | — | — | — | | From a Man's Perspective |
| "Lonely Dirt Road" | 2024 | — | — | — | | From a Man's Perspective |

#### As featured artist

List of singles as a featured, showing year released and album name :
| Title | Year | Album |
| "The One" (Jon Jupiter featuring Dax) | 2017 | non-album singles |
| "Checks" (Millian featuring Dax) | 2017 | non-album singles |
| "Thank God" (Alectra featuring Dax) | 2018 | non-album singles |
| "Ain't Ready for Us" (James Zoudy featuring Dax) | 2018 | non-album singles |
| "Believe" (DizzyEight featuring Dax and Ali Tomineek) | 2018 | non-album singles |
| "Dedicated" (The Jackal featuring Dax) | 2018 | non-album singles |
| "On My Feet" (Bizkit featuring Dax, Roshon and Wav3pop) | 2018 | non-album singles |
| "Set Off" (HipaGriff featuring Dax and Yung Swift) | 2018 | non-album singles |
| "Highlight" (Kanino featuring Dax and Stitches) | 2018 | non-album singles |
| "Situations" (Pretty Russell featuring Dax) | 2018 | non-album singles |
| "Trilla (Halloween)" (Fendi Frost featuring Dax) | 2018 | non-album singles |
| "Unforgivable" (Deji featuring Jallow, Dax and Crypt) | 2018 | non-album singles |
| "Dream Chaser" (Scru Face Jean featuring Dax) | 2019 | non-album singles |
| "Don't Fold" (Nix featuring Dax) | 2019 | non-album singles |
| "Four Horsemen" (Crypt featuring Quadeca, Dax and Scru Face Jean) | 2019 | non-album singles |
| "War!" (Quadeca featuring Dax) | 2019 | Voice Memos |
| "MAGA" (PeacefulPinder featuring Dax and Mica) | 2019 | non-album singles |
| "Perspective" (AlfhaSam featuring Luix and Dax) | 2019 | non-album singles |
| "Deadly Combination" (Crazy Peppsta featuring Dax) | 2019 | non-album singles |
| "Man Down" (CHVSE featuring Dax and PFV) | 2019 | non-album singles |
| "Feel It in My Veins" (BigNik featuring Dax) | 2019 | non-album singles |
| "Another Day" (T. Chandy featuring Dax) | 2019 | non-album singles |
| "Everything" (Enkay47 featuring Dax) | 2019 | non-album singles |
| "I Been That" (EMIWAY BANTAI featuring Dax)} |
* ↑ "Propaganda" did not enter the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but peaked at number 15 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart.

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2023 | CCMA | Breakthrough Artist or Group of the Year | — | Nominated |
| 2023 | CCMA | Top Selling Canadian Single Of The Year | "Dear Alcohol" | Won |
| 2024 | CCMA | Breakthrough Artist or Group of the Year | — | Nominated |