Music
Big Zuu is doing it for the youth
An interview with the West London grime artist standing up for his community.
Big Zuu is on the rise. The 23-year-old, raised in West London’s Mozart Estate, has been steadily building a reputation with his passionate style. Although Big Zuu is a ferocious MC – his coarse voice almost cracks when his energy goes into overdrive – he’s widely admired for his good nature. Within two days of the Grenfell Tower fire, last year Zuu released a fundraising track and video. On his new song No Breaks, Zuu ruminates on structural poverty, his voice expressing a blend of sadness, righteous anger and determination.
Zuu is part of the MTP collective, whose members include Ets, Sketch, Wax, D7, General Courts and his cousin AJ Tracey. Having released three singles and his Hold Dat EP in 2018, he hopes to release a full-length mixtape in the forthcoming months. Read on below to understand what fuels Big Zuu's fire.
How would you describe your style as an MC?
It’s very lyrical. It’s less about the sound. It’s about me trying to deliver a message.
What emotions are you going through when you’re spitting?
A lot of the time I’m thinking ‘Let me not fuck up!’ But I’m always enjoying it.
Before pursuing music full time, you did two years of a Social Work degree at Goldsmiths university. What inspired you to choose that course?
I’ve always loved youth. When I was coming up in college, it was something I saw myself doing as a career. In my gap year between college and uni, I worked in a secondary school. I’ve always been able to have a connection with young people but also know how they need to better their life. I’ve always been able to be that friend, but also be that person who can tell them ‘listen, you’re taking the piss’.
Do you think about the influence your music might on younger fans?
100%. My main freestyles – on SBTV or 1Xtra or whatever – all have a meaning behind them and it’s very conscious. My music’s a bit different. I do have songs which are more conscious, but I’ve tried to break it down so [most] my songs are for enjoyment, and my freestyles are where I’m talking about stuff. I try my hardest to put it out there, I try my hardest to show people.
Have any other artists in particular influenced your style?
Old school people like Tupac, Nas, Mobb Deep, Wu-Tang and – coming over to England – people like P Money, Ghetts, Skepta, JME.
Which MCs in London are killing it right now?
Obviously my people MTP. I think Capo Lee’s killing it. I love what Belly Squad are doing. Just them man really. Obviously there’s bare man outside of London, but yeah, in terms of London, them lot.
Big Zuu and AJ Tracey at Red Bull Music Odyssey
© Fanatic / Red Bull Content Pool
Tell me about your come up. Did you go through the traditional radio route?
Yeah of course. I got invited to Mode FM with AJ, via Jammz, and then started playing radio. Then making little songs for SoundCloud here and there. Then more radio, finally taking it a bit more seriously, putting out singles, doing shows, working with brands.
Was there a point when you realised that your music career was definitely going to take off?
It was probably around 2015 when things started picking up, when started doing the Boiler Rooms, the Eskimo Dances, doing videos on SBTV, all of this stuff.
What’s the best and worst thing about being a musician in 2018?
The advantage is definitely social media and being able to connect with your fans from all over the world. Like, I just did a tour in Australia - that’s definitely down to social media, you know what I mean? I feel it’s sick that people can connect over Snapchat, or Instagram, I talk to a lot of my fans and I have done for years.
And what’s the biggest obstacle?
Because of social media and YouTube you’ve got access to so many people coming up in UK music that you don’t know who to choose. Back in the day, you had everyone doing it, but you had the sickest, the elite. Now, it’s very crowded and it’s not easy to stand out. But it’s not a big problem for me, because I’ve worked hard and I’ve had a lot of good luck.
Now watch a behind the scenes peek into the filming of No Breaks below.
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