Nigerian-Canadian artist Dax makes a bold and personal departure from rap’s propulsive cadence, embracing the full storytelling range of country music on his new single “Man I Used To Be.” This one sounds like a soul confession coming from six months of complete sobriety and gold clarity.
The lyrics are memorable, although not all of them reflect great songwriting. Dax promised himself that he would not create music until he’d been clean for six months. And that fact should tell you everything you really need to know about where this song is coming from. It is made to heal, for openness.
At the end of the day, Dax was not one to be ashamed of his feelings. For a long time, his career has been rooted in this kind of truth-telling, spanning mental health to trauma, personal redemption, and the complexities of everyday life. But this song feels different. But “Man I Used To Be” is hushed, while a slower rhythm and acoustic warmth flood the song. That reflects on the man behind the artist and strips back layers of pure honesty, which is undeniably powerful to all.
We see one of those records in which he’s progressed as an artist. He is just telling the truth. A down-to-earth shuffle in the right direction, “Man I Used To Be” is evidence that once the racket dissipates, the truth emerges. In this release, Dax makes it clear that growth is its own kind of beautiful. Which is why, as vulnerable and brutally honest and grounded in an obscene clarity as this song is, sometimes the strongest thing a man can do is look himself in the face and then write a song about it.
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