Big Zuu

1154 fans

Great to Be

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. “I told myself, if I’m dropping out to pursue this, I need to bring that same goal with me into my music,” 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. “I want to motivate people, give them a positive message, to help them choose a route in life that’s gonna empower them,” he adds.

All of which helps explain the sound he’s been fine-tuning ever since: a molotov cocktail mix of energetic beats and needlepoint-precise rhymes that pulse with positivity. It’s a formula that’s brought him huge applause. When Content With Content, his scintillating debut mixtape, dropped in 2018, it was praised for its “ferocious flows” (The Guardian) and “top tier bars, holding his own against mainstays of grime” (Trench). When he released last year’s We Will Walk EP, it was hailed as an “acute analysis of the state of Britain in recent years” showing “an artist willing to expand the parameters of grime” (The Art of Grime). Over the years, he’s had a BBC 1Xtra residency that became unmissable radio, and gone viral rapping about his beloved Liverpool FC on BBC Sport. “It’s been a crazy journey to this moment, definitely,” he laughs.

But it hasn’t 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 nation’s frustration and anger into a cathartic three and a half minutes. “I wish I never had to record that,” Zuu says of the Mary J Blige-sampling track, recorded and released in a day (a response time quicker than the government’s). “But 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 didn’t 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.”

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 London’s Mozart Estate, in nearby Maida Vale. “My 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.” Eventually he discovered music: Eminem’s Marshall Mathers LP was his first album, before a friend put him onto grime aged 10. “I heard of it, but I’m from west and we didn’t really have grime radio. He showed me Channel U and instantly I was like ‘fuck, what is this?! This is sick!’ Fell in love and the rest is history,” 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. “Me and my friends had nothing to do – we were just rolling around. So we’d get rap instrumentals, J Dilla, Alchemist, proper classic US rap beats and spit to them for a laugh: cat-in-a-hat shit,” 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. “Welcome to my life, and yes I am the host, not too many good times so I guess I can’t boast, but when they ask what do I love most, it gotta be my mum cos she was there at the lowest,” he recites like it was yesterday. “See? I’ve always been on my conscious shit, always an emotional little git!”

Zuu sharpened his style, writing bar after bar, recording demo after demo. Soon he was tearing it up on pirate radio stations like Enfield’s 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. “Making a song with JME was crazy. There’s a video of me at a rave aged 17 going crazy to him with my gun fingers out. Now I’m on a track with him? Crazy, man,” he laughs (Zuu laughs a lot).

New single Move Right – a natural choice for a lead single for his anticipated new project, with a music video shot in Sierra Leone. “With songs like Move Right, I needed to explore other sides of my musicality. It’s a happy vibe, Afrobeat kinda track,” he says, before reflecting on his incredible experience making the video. “Going 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.”

The new single arrives at a time where Zuu has the world at his feet. Big Zuu’s Big Eats, his cooking show on UK channel Dave, has turned the songwriter into a TV favourite, an experience he’s keen to explore further. “It 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,” he confides. Whether he’s blazing trails on telly or in the booth, no matter what comes next, Zuu will keep trusting his instincts and being himself. “One day I’m gonna ask: what’s 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.” This is Big Zuu, and he’s not done inspiring yet.
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Top tracks

01
Fall Off
Big Zuu
Fall Off
03:31
01
P2P
Jelani Blackman
P2P
03:02
Composers: Jacob Manson - Daniel Jelani Sie-Blackman - Zuhair Hassan
02
Variation
Big Zuu
Navigate
03:28
Writer: Big Zuu - D Double E - Sir Spyro / Composers: Sir Spyro
01
Say No
Big Zuu
Say No
03:11
Writer: Big Zuu
01
Navigate
Big Zuu
Navigate
03:51
Composers: Big Zuu - Owen Cutts
01
Brush Them (feat. p-rallel)
Big Zuu
Brush Them (feat. p-rallel)
02:36
Composers: Big Zuu - Capo Lee
01
Duppy
Big Zuu
Duppy
04:20
Composers: Jevon - Big Zuu
01
Doing Alright
Big Zuu
Doing Alright
02:29
Composers: Big Zuu - Capo Lee - Zdot - Krunchie
02
We Will Walk
Big Zuu
We Will Walk
03:52
Composers: Big Zuu

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  • Discography
Albums
2025 Legacy Living LTD
07-03-2025
Signed & Delivered
01
Dave & Cench
Big Zuu
Signed & Delivered
02:34
Composers: Capo Lee - Big Zuu - Kemi Omoniyi
02
Drink Token
Big Zuu
Signed & Delivered
03:30
Composers: Big Zuu - Capo Lee
03
Telescope (feat. Ashbeck & El Londo)
Big Zuu
Signed & Delivered
03:27
Composers: Big Zuu - Capo Lee
04
Function (feat. INFAMOUSIZAK)
Big Zuu
Signed & Delivered
02:59
Composers: Big Zuu - Capo Lee
05
Bare Ones
Big Zuu
Signed & Delivered
03:11
Composers: Big Zuu - Capo Lee
06
Brush Them (feat. p-rallel)
Big Zuu
Signed & Delivered
02:36
Composers: Big Zuu - Capo Lee
07
Rio Riddim (feat. Antconstantino)
Big Zuu
Signed & Delivered
02:44
Composers: Capo Lee - Big Zuu - Jay Verma
Access the complete album info (11 songs)
Big Joints Ltd / MNRK UK
22-10-2021
Navigate
01
Navigate
Big Zuu
Navigate
03:51
Composers: Big Zuu - Owen Cutts
02
Variation
Big Zuu
Navigate
03:28
Writer: Big Zuu - D Double E - Sir Spyro / Composers: Sir Spyro
03
Star Signs
Big Zuu
Navigate
03:14
Composers: Big Zuu
04
Magical
Big Zuu
Navigate
02:15
Composers: Big Zuu - Donel - Crafty 893
05
Part Of The Show
Big Zuu
Navigate
02:31
Composers: Big Zuu - Unknown T - Crafty 893
06
Don’t Get Emotional
Big Zuu
Navigate
03:59
Composers: Big Zuu - Tre Mission - Crafty 893
07
Pinghead
Big Zuu
Navigate
03:22
Composers: Big Zuu - Crafty 893
Access the complete album info (12 songs)
Ditto
24-04-2020
Royal Rumble
01
On Fire
Big Zuu
Royal Rumble
02:35
02
Pay The Fee
Big Zuu
Royal Rumble
03:28
03
Out My Face
Big Zuu
Royal Rumble
03:24
04
180
Big Zuu
Royal Rumble
03:18
05
Scheming
Big Zuu
Royal Rumble
03:37
06
CapoStyle
Capo Lee
Royal Rumble
03:04
07
KamaStyle
Kamakaze
Royal Rumble
03:12
Access the complete album info (9 songs)
Big Zuu
19-10-2018
Content With Content
01
Intro (Tension)
Big Zuu
Content With Content
02:10
02
Don't Brag
Big Zuu
Content With Content
03:50
03
Fall Off
Big Zuu
Content With Content
03:31
04
B.I.G
Big Zuu
Content With Content
03:30
05
Elevation
Big Zuu
Content With Content
02:44
06
Vision
Big Zuu
Content With Content
03:04
07
Mine And Yours
Big Zuu
Content With Content
02:55
Access the complete album info (10 songs)
EPs
Big Zuu
12-07-2019
We Will Walk
01
Say No
Big Zuu
We Will Walk
03:11
Writer: Big Zuu
02
We Will Walk
Big Zuu
We Will Walk
03:52
Composers: Big Zuu
03
Came From The Block
Big Zuu
We Will Walk
04:31
Writer: Big Zuu / Composers: Big Zuu - The Kode
04
The Struggle (Freestyle)
Big Zuu
We Will Walk
03:16
Composers: 169 - Big Zuu
05
So Blessed
Big Zuu
We Will Walk
03:37
Composers: Owen Cutts - Big Zuu
Big Zuu
12-01-2018
Hold Dat EP
01
Blatant Truth
Big Zuu
Hold Dat EP
03:42
02
Hold Dat
Big Zuu
Hold Dat EP
03:10
03
Playing Games
Big Zuu
Hold Dat EP
03:48
04
Swag On Riddims
Big Zuu
Hold Dat EP
03:02
℗ 2017 Big Zuu
15-08-2017
Big Zuu EP
01
Builders
Big Zuu
Big Zuu EP
03:38
Writer: Big Zuu / Composers: Big Zuu
02
No Restarts
Big Zuu
Big Zuu EP
02:17
Writer: Big Zuu / Composers: Big Zuu
03
Tell Man Twice
Big Zuu
Big Zuu EP
03:17
Writer: Big Zuu / Composers: Big Zuu
04
Manual
Big Zuu
Big Zuu EP
02:47
Writer: Big Zuu / Composers: Big Zuu
05
Remember Remember
Big Zuu
Big Zuu EP
03:42
Writer: Big Zuu / Composers: Big Zuu
06
F.F.T.R
Big Zuu
Big Zuu EP
05:01
Writer: Big Zuu / Composers: Big Zuu
Singles
2024 Legacy Living LTD
14-02-2025
Brush Them (feat. p-rallel)
01
Brush Them (feat. p-rallel)
Big Zuu
Brush Them (feat. p-rallel)
02:36
Composers: Big Zuu - Capo Lee
℗ 2025 MOVES Recordings
23-01-2025
Raray Life 2
01
Raray Life 2
PS Hitsquad
Raray Life 2
03:17
Writer: Alieu Koroma / Composers: Alieu Koroma
2024 Legacy Living LTD
29-11-2024
Dave & Cench
01
Dave & Cench
Big Zuu
Dave & Cench
02:34
Composers: Capo Lee - Big Zuu - Kemi Omoniyi
2024 Legacy Living LTD
25-10-2024
Rio Riddim (feat. Antconstantino)
01
Rio Riddim (feat. Antconstantino)
Big Zuu
Rio Riddim (feat. Antconstantino)
02:44
Composers: Capo Lee - Big Zuu - Jay Verma
2024 Legacy Living LTD
26-07-2024
Girona Riddim
01
Girona Riddim
Big Zuu
Girona Riddim
02:17
Composers: Capo Lee - Big Zuu
℗ 2024 Legacy Living
07-06-2024
Must Be Bored
01
Must Be Bored
Big Zuu
Must Be Bored
03:03
Writer: Big Zuu - D7. - Drifter / Composers: Big Zuu - D7. - Drifter
Big Zuu
10-12-2023
No Justice 4 Grenfell, No Peace
01
No Justice 4 Grenfell, No Peace
Big Zuu
No Justice 4 Grenfell, No Peace
02:13
Writer: Big Zuu / Composers: Toddla T - Big Zuu
Big Zuu
11-08-2023
Running Back To You
01
Running Back To You
Big Zuu
Running Back To You
02:00
Writer: Big Zuu - Capo Lee - MiMi / Composers: Big Zuu - Capo Lee - MiMi