Dax, a Nigerian-Canadian poet and rapper, calls from a phone number with a Wichita, Kansas, area code to speak with The Tennessean about his outsider-to-insider rise in country music's mainstream.

Dax Pierson’s presence in the Bay Area music scene was unmistakable. In the early 2000s, Pierson’s projects Subtle and 13 & God pioneered an introspective, expansive hip-hop sound that paved the way ...

Dax knew almost immediately the first line he wanted to write for “To Be a Man” when he heard the beat of the track. “I walked in the room and [Lex} said, ‘Man, I got something crazy for you,'” he ...

Unluckiness turned to tragedy in the moments that followed. The van rolled. Pierson's seat came loose. He slammed headfirst onto the roof, instantly paralyzing him. No one else in the car sustained ...