EUPHORIC COOKING: The Life & Times of Big Zuu

A simple concept at face value, the beloved show epitomises the appeal of Zuu and serves as an emblem of his rise to success throughout the past four years. The perfect amalgam of playful humour and instructive cooking show, the series is carried by Zuu’s infectious manner, as he serves up edible delights with help from childhood friends, Tubsey and Hyder. While Big Zuu’s big break and ascent to stardom came through food, his first passion was music. Having grown up in Kilburn, London, Zuu’s closest friends were making music, recording at their local youth centre, The Rugby Club. Recording his first demos in this location, as did his cousin AJ Tracey, Zuu’s creativity shone through, and the initial glimmers of his star persona began to shine. Using this space as an opportunity to practice his creative ability, Zuu developed his wordplay, humour and mindset, nurturing an attitude that has blossomed into the on-screen persona millions tune into every week across a plethora of shows, including Big Zuu's 12 Dishes In 12 Hours and Big Zuu Goes to Mecca.

Deftly balancing good-natured humour with a genuine passion for food, Big Zuu’s success highlights his eminent likeability, and his ability to connect with anyone he encounters. Sitting down with the TV sensation ahead of the launch of our “Flyfishing” collaboration with adidas, UrlfreezeShops discuss all things Big Zuu: from his first encounters with cooking, to his own connection to the subculture of streetwear.

You’re a man who wears many hats – musician, chef, comedian, presenter – what was it that first inspired you to delve into these different forms of creativity?

The first thing that inspired me to be creative would have been my love for music, I’ve always loved music from a young age. I never started making music until my late-teens and through wanting to promote my music I started cooking online and becoming a presenter, which then led to Big Eats. It all stems from music. Music is the core.

Coming to music as one of your first passions, what led to you experimenting with writing bars and rapping in the first place? Was music a big part of your experience growing up in London?

My Mum was always very musical, being a woman from West Africa, we always had music playing in the house. It was just through boredom that I started writing music, being bored in the block with the mandem, we would freestyle over old school youtube beats just as something to do. Eventually that turned into studio sessions, which turned into a BlackBox Freestyle when I was 18, started going radio at 19 and the rest is history.

In a similar sense, what then led you on to cooking as a career? Had it always been something that you were interested in pursuing?

Being a young fat boy, I always loved food - people say “big-boned” I say “fat-bellied”. I’ve always loved food, food has always been a passion of mine - I love cooking. I did catering as a GCSE and I used to always cook for my friends when growing up, so naturally I used my love for food and cooking to promote my music. Then I created the “Joints” show which led to me being a presenter. So food was always intertwined into my presenting and music. Eventually, we got Big Eats which is a BLESSING!

In the modern age, the mash up of cooking and comedy has given rise to a number of stars – why do you think the combination is such a perfect marriage? And why is it important for you to approach cooking with a light-hearted attitude?

I guess food and comedy is something that I’ve always been involved in. Big Eats is literally a marriage of the two, but we never intended it to be like that. We just took a real different approach to food when it came to doing it on television, normally the stuff you would see would be very serious about the ingredients and the root of the dishes, whereas we were just having jokes and bantering about how good the food was - when you add comedy to food it makes it easily accessible to people, and we never knew we was doing that. Shoutout to Whatwillycook as well, such a hilarious guy who makes great food content.

As a massive global culture, streetwear’s impact has been far-reaching since its origins in the 1970s. Has streetwear always been a part of your own personal style?

Yeah man, I’m from the hood. Streetwear is the only clothes I’ve ever known. Wearing a trackie and having your creps fresh - even when I was broke, man still had fresh creps. That is just being adopted into streetwear - not mixing brands is a big thing, if i’m wearing my shell-toes I got to make sure I got a 3 stripes trackie on as well. I don’t know anything else, it’s something we adopted from young.

Can you remember what your first introductions to streetwear were, and what impact did they have on you?

My first introduction was most likely my Mum, she bought me a basketball jersey and took me to clothing stores that sold tracksuits and fresh trainers. She just always kept me fresh. Then you start going school seeing what your friends and family are wearing and take inspiration from that.

As an iconic sportswear brand, everyone has a specific memory or moment where they first connected with adidas. What was this moment for you?

I think when I first ever watched the Run DMC video with Aerosmith, that was my first recollection as a child seeing adidas represented in that way on MTV. But with myself, when I first got Superstars I remember I was super excited and what they did with football, the Predators were big.

As the face of UrlfreezeShops and adidas’ Flyfishing collaboration, you were dropped in at the deep end on the shoot day. How was your first introduction to the world of fly fishing?

Fly fishing is incredible, I had an incredible teacher. It’s something I’d like to do more in my spare time when I get the chance. I think the collab really embraces how cool of a sport and pastime it is. Hopefully, it gives people a bit more access to it, sometimes when you look the part it makes you want to be the part, and that’s how I felt - I was given all the gear… and I had the idea, sometimes getting into things like this when you’re from my world can be really difficult. But I felt like I had my armour on and was ready to go catch some salmon. 

You’ve fully thrown yourself into this new experience and embraced it with your typically joyous sense of humour. What inspired you about your day on the water with Marina? What do you enjoy about diving into new experiences?

Marina is amazing, her name is Marina and she works with water - that’s like the sickest punchline of all time. I’ve always enjoyed fishing. I think that fishing is really cool but fly fishing is something I have never done before so it was really easy to enjoy because it’s such a different thing to do. I literally dived into the deep end, waist deep, throwing my hook around trying to get my line correct. Definitely planning another fly fishing excursion, so I’ll definitely be in my UrlfreezeShops x adidas fly fishing collab outfit again soon.

What is on the horizon for Big Zuu?

More music, more TV, more vibes. I got my own water brand called DRIP, I’ve got a lot of things coming with DRIP. Hopefully looking to do more stuff in the fashion world, hopefully some more beautiful things to come between myself , UrlfreezeShops, and adidas. I’ll definitely be out there fly fishing for some trout next in a river in London. Just good vibes overall and staying healthy, that’s all that is on the agenda.