Before he was Big Zuu, he was Zuhair Hussain: a video game and football-obsessed university student, making grime heaters in his spare time between studying for a career helping disadvantaged children. When his rap career began to blow up on the back of a string of incendiary self-released singles, he faced a dilemma. āI told myself, if Iām dropping out to pursue this, I need to bring that same goal with me into my music,ā says the Londoner. If he was going to hit pause on becoming a youth worker to pursue a career in music, he decided, he was going to bring youth work into his music. āI want to motivate people, give them a positive message, to help them choose a route in life thatās gonna empower them,ā he adds.
All of which helps explain the sound heās been fine-tuning ever since: a molotov cocktail mix of energetic beats and needlepoint-precise rhymes that pulse with positivity. Itās a formula thatās brought him huge applause. When Content With Content, his scintillating debut mixtape, dropped in 2018, it was praised for its āferocious flowsā (The Guardian) and ātop tier bars, holding his own against mainstays of grimeā (Trench). When he released last yearās We Will Walk EP, it was hailed as an āacute analysis of the state of Britain in recent yearsā showing āan artist willing to expand the parameters of grimeā (The Art of Grime). Over the years, heās had a BBC 1Xtra residency that became unmissable radio, and gone viral rapping about his beloved Liverpool FC on BBC Sport. āItās been a crazy journey to this moment, definitely,ā he laughs.
But it hasnāt all been joyous. In 2017, when more than 72 people were killed in the Grenfell Tower fire that shocked London and the world, Zuu released a freestyle that packed a nationās frustration and anger into a cathartic three and a half minutes. āI wish I never had to record that,ā Zuu says of the Mary J Blige-sampling track, recorded and released in a day (a response time quicker than the governmentās). āBut the reaction was crazy. I had people who were in the fire and who had family in the fire tell me they needed this: they needed to hear a voice asking the questions I was asking. I didnāt want to do it to be some sort of saviour. I did it because I lost a friend in the fire [20-year-old Yasin El Wahabi]. I wanted to represent him and some of the pain that people affected were feeling, what they were going through.ā
Zuu has always cared for his community this way. He grew up the son of a Sierra Leonean mum and absent Lebanese father on West Londonās Mozart Estate, in nearby Maida Vale. āMy mum always had music in the house. She was always dancing to Michael Jackson, Tracy Chapman, Phil Collins, old school classics. Mum was very positive and always wanted me to do well: more education, more education. The message was to better myself.ā Eventually he discovered music: Eminemās Marshall Mathers LP was his first album, before a friend put him onto grime aged 10. āI heard of it, but Iām from west and we didnāt really have grime radio. He showed me Channel U and instantly I was like āfuck, what is this?! This is sick!ā Fell in love and the rest is history,ā he beams.
The summer between leaving school and starting college was the summer he started trying his hand at rapping himself. It was somewhat accidental, though. āMe and my friends had nothing to do ā we were just rolling around. So weād get rap instrumentals, J Dilla, Alchemist, proper classic US rap beats and spit to them for a laugh: cat-in-a-hat shit,ā he grins. Even spitting simple rhymes, friends noticed a natural talent and encouraged him to take it further. He still remembers the first proper bar he penned. āWelcome to my life, and yes I am the host, not too many good times so I guess I canāt boast, but when they ask what do I love most, it gotta be my mum cos she was there at the lowest,ā he recites like it was yesterday. āSee? Iāve always been on my conscious shit, always an emotional little git!ā
Zuu sharpened his style, writing bar after bar, recording demo after demo. Soon he was tearing it up on pirate radio stations like Enfieldās Mode FM and a key cog in the MTP collective grime crew, whose members include Ets, Sketch, Wax, D7, General Courts and AJ Tracey. A self-titled EP landed in 2017 that made good on the raw promise of singles like 2015 street favourite Shelling Dis Year. Before too long he was rubbing shoulders with the grime royalty he used to worship. āMaking a song with JME was crazy. Thereās a video of me at a rave aged 17 going crazy to him with my gun fingers out. Now Iām on a track with him? Crazy, man,ā he laughs (Zuu laughs a lot).
New single Move Right ā a natural choice for a lead single for his anticipated new project, with a music video shot in Sierra Leone. āWith songs like Move Right, I needed to explore other sides of my musicality. Itās a happy vibe, Afrobeat kinda track,ā he says, before reflecting on his incredible experience making the video. āGoing back, being able to see my roots, was powerful. I learned a lot about how beautiful the country really is. I want to work with Sierra Leone people to try and bring our music forward to the masses and this song was like an opportunity for us to do that.ā
The new single arrives at a time where Zuu has the world at his feet. Big Zuuās Big Eats, his cooking show on UK channel Dave, has turned the songwriter into a TV favourite, an experience heās keen to explore further. āIt was so fun to do but also it was meaningful. My mum's a refugee from Africa. She never thought her son would be on national television, representing our culture like that,ā he confides. Whether heās blazing trails on telly or in the booth, no matter what comes next, Zuu will keep trusting his instincts and being himself. āOne day Iām gonna ask: whatās my legacy? We all got a legacy, whether what you do is music or cooking or youth work, whatever. I want to look back and say I reached people.ā This is Big Zuu, and heās not done inspiring yet.