Step 1. One of the most interesting stories we’ve ever written started by featuring this infectious Outkast mashup cover “Moves Like Ms. Jackson” last Sunday. With no artist name attached, the song spread virally raising the question of who this might be, leading to speculations ranging from Disclosure, Duke Dumont and Moon Boots.
Step 2. Then this past Sunday, we received another track from the mysterious artist; this time an original titled “Superfriends” featuring the same style and vocals, yet still no name for the artist.
Step 3. Well today we are finally unlocking the mystery.. or at least the beginning. One of Thissongissick loyal readers posted a comment on the article stating they were sure “this artists’ name is ZHU.” We started digging and after reaching out to a writer from 20 minutes (The French New York Times), we were sent an exchange of email’s he had with the artist responsible for the songs who we now can confirm as “ZHU”. His name is Steven Zhu, a producer and singer from LA who has gone to great lengths to keep people focusing on the music rather than the musician. ZHU declined an interview but issued the following statement about about keeping his identity:
“Many are wondering why I chose to release my music anonymously. I am my own ghostwriter. As a society, we become more attached to the creator than to the creation. Music is faceless. My music is for a new generation—one in which people appreciate art for its intrinsic value—Generation WHY.“
We searched around and found zhumusic.com, and up until literally 15 minutes ago the entire site was pure black, yet now appears with the familiar Z symbol featured on both previous artworks (image below), confirming the identity. On the page there is a video with the Z symbol and what sounds like another new original song from our main man ZHU. He also has a field for collecting e-mails for what we can assume will be the next steps in project ZHU. We can rest a little easier now knowing at least part of the mystery, yet now we are left with ten more. What are these original songs apart of? Some future album we might see very soon? Should we expect another release on Sunday like the first two? When will we get to see him live?
At least we now know who he is, and judging from these two first tracks and overall movement he is starting, we can rest assured that ZHU will easily become one of the biggest breakout acts of 2014.
Source: 20 Minutes