Big Zuu - Content With Content

The Guardian 60

(No label)

Zuhair “Big Zuu” Hussain’s first full-length mixtape effortlessly demonstrates why he’s worth a record deal, although it stops short of suggesting that he could get much bigger than he already is.

Familiar features from P Money, JME and Craig David over rough-edged but effective production tick the relevant grime debut boxes, and it’s sensibly short at just half an hour. But there’s a sense that Zuu doesn’t quite bring enough personality to the tape to fully escape his pirate radio past. It could do with more lines like B.I.G’s cutely silly “doin’ bits like juice with the pulp in”. You’ll have to concentrate to get the most out of Big Zuu’s ferocious flow, and it’s not always obvious that it will be worth the effort. Casual listeners may not pick up on his more thoughtful musings, in the vein of his Grenfell Tower Tribute last year.