Genre-Defying Music: Dixson's Evolving Sound

When Darius Scott (a.k.a Dixson) walked onto The Voice stage way back in 2016, a star was born. Nobody knew it back then, but it was the start of an amazing and genre-bending journey for the Atlanta native. He performed a rendition of Usher’s “You Make Me Wanna,” and his vocals led Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, and Dixson’s eventual coach Pharrell Williams to turn around.

Dixson didn’t win The Voice that season, but he kept in touch with Pharrell and eventually made his way deeper into the music industry.

And the further he goes, the more he changes up his sound. Today, it’s very difficult to put Dixson’s music into one category because of how unique it all is.

Since he was a very young child, Dixson was completely surrounded by music. Being the son of a pastor, he quickly learned how to play a variety of instruments, just in case he needed to fill in for the church band. At age 5, he began singing and never looked back. His love for music led him to join several music groups in college, and he even released a gospel album before stepping onto the big stage.

The Voice was Dixson’s breakthrough moment. His performances in the blind audition, battle stages, and live performances gained him plenty of fans for his soothing vocals. Sadly, he was eliminated in the round of 24, but that was far from the end of Dixson’s career.

After the competition, Pharrell continued to mentor Dixson. He shifted into a more electro and R&B sound and released the album “Young” in 2018. The album did okay, but it wasn’t a smashing success.

Dixson continued to write songs, both for himself and other artists as well. For himself, he went on to release the albums “Darling” in 2021, and “004 Daisy” in 2022. Both of these albums featured his unique blend of hip-hop, R&B, and soul music sounds. It even had some hints of his gospel background as well.

As many have noted, “Young” and “Darling” are quite different. In an interview with Billboard, Dixson himself explained the difference this way: “Young was my baby. I made it in the second bedroom of my apartment in Dallas…Just trying things, throwing paint at the wall. With Darling, it was just way more subtle. It was the first album I ever made as a signed recording artist.”

As Dixson said in another interview, “004 Daisy” is “perfect for the time, perfect for where I am…It’s bringing me back to the center of why I got into the business in the first place.”

And while Dixson certainly built a loyal fanbase with his uniqueness, it was his songwriting and producing skills that pushed him into the limelight. He has proven that he can do it all and he is not afraid of change.

While Dixson wrote and produced his own songs, he was also busy helping out other popular artists with their music as well. He helped produce “Zanies and Fools” with Chance the Rapper and Nicki Minaj. And he also arranged the acoustic version of Chance and Justin Bieber’s song “Holy.”

But Dixson’s biggest success came when he collaborated with Beyoncé for “Be Alive.” The song was part of the soundtrack for the film King Richard. The lyrics follow the story of Venus and Serena Williams breaking into the scene in the tennis world, and it is highly inspirational with a lovely sound.

The song was a huge hit, getting nominated for countless awards, and even winning the Best Original Song award from the Hollywood Critics Association Awards.