In a music industry obsessed with polish, performance, and perfection, Dax chooses vulnerability instead. His latest single, “Man I Used To Be,” released on August 1st, 2025, is not just a song — it’s a raw, emotionally charged reckoning with the man he once was, and a solemn vow to never go back.
Hailing from Wichita, Kansas, Dax is a rising voice in hip-hop whose passion and authenticity cut through with striking clarity in his latest single. Teaming up with Nashville producer Jimmy Robbins, Dax channels his personal journey into every bar, crafting a song that’s as emotionally raw as it is introspective. With unfiltered lyricism and a deeply human core, his music connects with listeners, resonating on a level that feels intimate.
Man I Used To Be is not just another release, it is a statement. A turning point. A line in the sand between who he was and who he is becoming.
Written after six months of sobriety, this is not just Music, it is a reflection of Dax’s commitment to clarity, both personally and artistically. In his own words, he vowed not to release any new music in 2025 until he had lived half a year alcohol-free. That discipline has paid off. Dax felt something sacred in the studio that day. “Could feel God in the room,” he says. That’s not just metaphor. You can hear it in the pauses between lines, in the trembling rawness of his voice, in the simplicity of the production.
With “Man I Used To Be,” Dax doesn’t just look back — he stares directly into the eyes of his former self, dissecting the addictions, traumas, and toxic patterns that nearly swallowed him.
The first verse of the song highlights a territory many artists often avoid; generational trauma, mental health, addiction, faith and the messy road that leads to healing.
“Trials and tribulations / All my past trauma
Generational curses from daddy and mama
Heartbreak and lies / Dirty soul ties
Mixed with addictions that clouded my eyes”
These aren’t abstract ideas, they are personal battles laid bare. The pain is specific and that specificity makes the song different.
As the music progresses, Dax takes a spiritual and more confrontational turn:
“Don’t ask the reason I changed
Ask yourself why you stayed the same”
This is the gut-punch. It’s the lyrical pivot from self-blame to self-empowerment. While earlier verses dwell in regret, this moment flips the script, no longer apologizing for growth, but defending it.
Then comes the most transformative declaration of the track:
“Now I’m in a phase, I can sleep alone
I don’t ever chase, I got God
Letting go of pain that was never mine
Trying to bear the weights — not my job”
Here, we hear a man finally laying down burdens he was never meant to carry. This is Dax at his most liberated. Sobriety isn’t the only thing he’s achieved. He’s shedding emotional baggage, spiritual confusion, and the toxic expectations that once weighed him down.
The artist aims at the deeper roots of his pain: family dysfunction, trauma passed down through bloodlines, and the soul-deep ties that distort love into damage. It’s a look at how our demons often aren’t born from us, but into us and how healing means confronting more than just your own mistakes.
“Man I Used To Be” isn’t for everyone and that’s why it matters. It’s for the selected few who yearn for emotional content. It’s the type of song to make you sit with yourself. To make you ask hard questions about who you’ve been, who you’re becoming, and what you’re still carrying that no longer serves you. It’s an anthem for the broken who wish to rebuild.
Some artists entertain, some inspire and then there are artists like Dax who open up their wounds, share the blood and healing in equal measure, and somehow make it all sound like redemption.
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