Zuhair Hassan (born 19 August 1995), known professionally as Big Zuu, is a British rapper,

grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust * Grime (music genre), a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * ''Grime'' (video game), a 2021 Metroidvania video game * "Grime", a 2022 song by Dallas Woo ...

MC, songwriter, DJ and television personality from West London. He is best known for presenting ''Big Zuu's Big Eats'' for

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

Early and personal life

Hassan was born in London and grew up on the Mozart Estate in Harrow Road, west London. His mother is from

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

and his father is from

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, however, his father was absent during his childhood. During his gap year between college and university, Hassan worked as a mentor for young children in a secondary school in

Haggerston Haggerston is a locale in East London, England, centred approximately on Great Cambridge Street (now renamed Queensbridge Road). It is within the London Borough of Hackney and is considered to be a part of London's East End. It is about 3.1 mi ...

, East London. He then spent two years at

Goldsmiths University Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wo ...

New Cross New Cross is an area in south east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, Telegraph Hill, Nunhead, Peckham, Brockley, Deptford and Greenwich, ...

studying towards a community development and youth work degree. He is a member of the MTP crew ''(My Team Paid)'', a rap group that consists of his cousin

AJ Tracey Ché Wolton Grant (born 4 March 1994), known professionally as AJ Tracey, is a British rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is from Ladbroke Grove, West London. Tracey rose to popularity in 2016 and was listed by ''The Guardian'' i ...

and other grime MCs such as Ets and others; much like AJ Tracey, his first demos were recorded at their local youth centre, The Rugby Club, which let them use their studio so long as no expletives were used during the recording, forcing him to become creative to make his point. In a 2018 interview with

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...

, Hassan stated that his music style was influenced by "old school" artists such as

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the Li ...

, Jme,

P Money Paris Moore-Williams (born 8 April 1989), better known by his stage name P Money, is a British grime MC, rapper and songwriter from New Cross, South East London, who is also active in the drum and bass scene. He is best known for his live pe ...

Ghetts Justin Clarke, better known by his stage name Ghetts (formerly Ghetto), is a British grime MC, rapper and songwriter. His music has been played on national radio stations such as BBC Radio 1, Kiss 100, BBC Asian Network, and BBC Radio 1Xtra. Cur ...

and

Skepta Chief Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr. (born 19 September 1982), known professionally as Skepta, is a British-Nigerian grime MC, rapper and record producer. Alongside his younger brother Jme, he briefly joined Roll Deep before they became founding ...

. He is an avid supporter of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Television career

In late 2019,

UKTV UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through ...

channel

commissioned a new food show starring Hassan and various stand-up comedians. The show, ''Big Zuu's Big Eats'', began broadcasting on 15 May 2020. It features Hassan and two friends, Tubsey and Hyder, in a 10-part series cooking for stand-up comedians who were touring the UK. For each comedian they prepare a made-to-order pre-show appetiser, followed by a three-course meal. Rosie Jones,

Desiree Burch Desiree Lea Burch (born 26 January 1979) is an American comedian, actress, television presenter, and voice actress. Originally from Diamond Bar, California, Burch has also lived in New York, Streatham, Croydon and Peckham, having moved to Lond ...

Ed Gamble Edward Stephenson Jamison Gamble (born 11 March 1986) is an English comedian, known for co-presenting ''The Peacock and Gamble Podcast'' and his regular appearances on ''Mock the Week''. He studied at Durham University, where he began his come ...

Jamali Maddix Jamali Maddix (born 15 April 1991) is an English stand-up comedian. He appears as a regular panellist on the reboot of ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' and appeared on series 11 of '' Taskmaster''. Early life Maddix was born in Ilford, East London ...

Jimmy Carr James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer, and actor. He is known for his deadpan delivery of controversial one-liners and distinctive laugh, for which he has been both praised and criti ...

Josh Widdicombe Joshua Michael Widdicombe (; born 8 April 1983) is an English comedian, presenter and actor. He is best known for his appearances on ''The Last Leg'' (2012–present), ''Fighting Talk'' (2014–2016), ''Insert Name Here'' (2016–2019), ''Mock t ...

London Hughes London Dionne Micha Stacey Stephanie Estina Knibbs-Hughes (born 1989) is a British comedian, television writer and presenter. She wrote and starred in ''Laughter Shock'', a comedy for the BBC which piloted in 2010. Early life London Dionne Mich ...

Lou Sanders Lou Sanders is a British stand-up comedian, writer and actress from Broadstairs, Kent. Early life Sanders grew up in Broadstairs, Kent with her mother and her stepfather, a history teacher. Her father was periodically present. Sanders moved ou ...

Phil Wang Philip Nathaniel Wang Sin Goi (born 22 January 1990) is a British-Malaysian stand-up comedian and comedy writer who is a member of the sketch comedy group Daphne, and co-creator of their BBC Radio 4 series, '' Daphne Sounds Expensive''. He cur ...

and

Guz Khan Ghulam Dustgir "Guz" Khan (born 1986) is a British comedian, impressionist, and actor best known for his work in the TV show '' Man Like Mobeen'' and stand up appearances in '' Live at the Apollo''. Early life Guz has two sisters who are ten ...

make guest appearances in the series. In September 2020 it was confirmed that the show would return for two special episodes followed by a second series in 2021. The third series premiered on 4 July 2022; guests include

Johnny Vegas Michael Joseph Pennington (born 5 September 1970), better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, overweight appearance, angry comedic rants, and us ...

Katherine Ryan Katherine Louisa Ryan (born 30 June 1983) is a Canadian comedian, writer, presenter, and actress based in the United Kingdom. She has appeared on many British panel shows, including as a regular team captain on ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' and '' Never ...

and

Mel B Melanie Janine Brown (born 29 May 1975), commonly known as Melanie B or Mel B, is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sc ...

. He appeared on episode 11 of series 2 of ''Guessable''. He made an appearance on ''Jon & Lucy's Christmas Sleepover''. Hassan presented ''Big Zuu's Breakfast Show'' on Sunday mornings throughout the spring and summer of 2022 on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

. In May 2022, Hassan won two

Bafta TV Awards The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...

– entertainment performance and features for his show ''Big Zuu’s Big Eats'' at the

2022 British Academy Television Awards The 2022 British Academy Television Awards were held on 8 May 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall in London, to recognise the excellence in British television of 2021. The nominations were announced on 30 March 2022 alongside the nominations for the ...

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

As featured artist

Filmography

Television

Publications

* ''Big Zuu's Big Eats'' (), 2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Zuu 1995 births Living people Black British DJs Black British male rappers English male rappers English television personalities Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London People from London Grime music artists English people of Sierra Leonean descent English people of Lebanese descent People from the London Borough of Camden