Most parents whose child says they want to be a rapper may encourage their love of music, but try to steer them towards a more attainable career.
Big Zuu’s mum was no different – when her rap-crazy teenage son told her he wanted to be a rapper, she thought her son had “failed”.
The now-successful rapper and TV chef reveals: “When I first told my mum I wanted to be a rapper, she had no idea I could actually turn that into a long-term job and that it would open up so many doors for me. But now she’s been able to see that.
“I’m sure when I first approached her about doing this as a career she would’ve spurred me on if she’d known that, instead of telling me ‘What’s wrong with you?’”
Big up my Mum for creating me and inspiring me to strive for greatness everyday pic.twitter.com/dsTOxowPcg
— Zig Buu (@ItsBigZuu) August 19, 2020
The larger-than-life character, who also presents the TV cookery show Big Zuu’s Big Eats, went to university to study youth work before dropping out to follow his rapping dream.
He recalls: “When I dropped out of uni to pursue a career in rap, my mum thought her son had failed. She thought ‘What have I done wrong?’ – she blamed herself. Then I was like ‘You haven’t done anything wrong – this is what I love, I’m passionate about it’.
“And once I started getting payments, and helping her around the house and paying for bills, she realised it was actually feasible, and ever since then, she’s been my biggest fan.”
Now Big Zuu – whose real name is Zuhair Hassan – wants to help the next generation pursue their dreams like he did, and he’s supporting the EE LearnSmart campaign to stress the importance of young people following their passions when looking at future careers.
The 29-year-old, who also hosted the recent EE Learn Live event, which offered sessions designed to get teens thinking about how they can apply their passions to their future pathways, says: “Working with young people has always been a massive thing for me. It’s been something that’s connected to my work – I feel like I can make more of an impact because I was studying to be a youth worker.”
He says investment into helping young people access work has declined, and believes the younger generation aren’t helped by the fact that, as with his own mother, many parents have outdated ideas about careers, not realising that everything from gaming, vlogging, rapping and posting on social media can actually earn young people serious money.
“It’s 2025 – the landscape of what a good job looks like has completely changed,” he stresses. “Parents might have a view that’s not very clear on how different hobbies and passions can lead to a job, because they come from a different generation. So it’s about inspiring parents to be able to facilitate their kids to get into these things.”
He says it took his own mum about a year from when he told her he wanted to be a rapper to realise he may really be able to turn his passion into a living.
“A year of hard work and pulling through,” he remembers. “I was incredibly broke as well – when I first dropped out of uni to pursue music, I had no money, so there were times I had to ask my mum to help me a little with, say, 100 quid for album artwork. And she just didn’t understand what was going on.
“But then when I started getting paid from shows and making money back from my music, and started actually making real, real progress, then she started to believe me.”
Although the rapper thinks in the past young people had to be brave to follow their passions, he stresses: “Nowadays we’ve seen so many more examples of people making it in their chosen careers, led by their passion and their hobbies.
“Now is the time to realise people can do it. It’s possible, it just requires a bit more work, and a bit more sacrifice compared to the traditional nine-to-five. Now is the best time because of TikTok and social media. There’s access for young people to get into any chosen career – they just have to pick up their phone.”
And these youngsters only need to look to Big Zuu for their inspiration.
“I am someone that’s been able to do really well with TV and the content world – and I started from doing Snapchats of my food, and that led to me being asked to do a TV show,” he says. “So I’m the proof of it, and I feel like now young people have more role models within these areas, [they] know it’s possible.”
He says at the Learn Live event, “A lot of young people were really excited to meet me, because I’m a product of the environment they’re in. So I definitely felt like a lot of young people would look to me as inspiration. And I felt really proud that I’m a part of helping the next generation get into a different career that they maybe never would have got into.”
So is this young man from the west London “hood” surprised that he’s ended up being an inspiration for the next generation?
“Definitely!” he retorts, with a characteristic guffaw. “When I was young, I loved food because I’m just a foodie – I never thought I’d be part of the next wave of chefs inspiring young people to get into food. And not just inspiring them to become chefs, but to become content creators, and maybe get into different roles within the food world.”
Zuu admits that when he was growing up, his inspiration was the chef Simon Rimmer from Channel 4’s food show Sunday Brunch. “He probably didn’t think he’d be a typical inspiration for a young man like me from the hood,” Zuu reflects.
“But growing up watching Simon gave me the inspiration to get into food. And now I might be the inspiration for someone else – I might be their version of Simon Rimmer, so it’s nice – it’s kind of full circle for me.”
At the tender age of 29, Zuu reflects on his career – which has most recently seen him win Celebrity Bear Hunt with Bear Grylls – with great pride. “I’m a musician that cooks who’s also an entrepreneur,” he explains. “I’m an entertainer who’s been lucky enough to entertain people in many different ways.
“I’m very, very, very, very proud of the fact that I’m embraced for who I am in all things that I work in.”
And as for his experience on Celebrity Bear Hunt, the Netflix series where 12 celebrities were hunted in the Costa Rican jungle by Grylls, he adds: “Working with Bear Grylls – he’s a mad little man. He’s crazy, and he’s intense, but he taught me a lot, and he gave me a lot, and he changed my life for the better. I never, ever thought I’d look back at Bear Grylls and say he’s someone that had such a big impact on my life.
“I’m really lucky and proud to say I won, and that I conquered something so big.”
Big Zuu is supporting the EE Learn Smart campaign to encourage teenagers to follow their passions when looking at future careers.
