Five Questions with Zuzi: The Shadowy Artist Behind Zuzi Magazine
In the past few years, few have carved out their own creative niche quite like Zuzi. Learn more about his creative process, passions and his new projects in the pipeline.
Zuzi hails from the US under his self-created pseudonym. Zuzi exists as a jack of all trades, jumping from video to art reworkings and print seamlessly.
His love and artistry are rooted in love and appreciation of early 2000s-era music, fashion and culture. In the years Zuzi has been working, he’s created his own sold-out magazine. The Zuzi Magazine is filled with thrilling and dynamic content to make any rap fan’s eyes pop out of their sockets.
Currently, Zuzi harbours almost 45k followers on Instagram. Zuzi’s cult following was also fuel to launch his signature magazine. The magazine is 100 pages printed onto a high-quality hardcover sleeve. The second edition of the magazine features six unique covers with Missy Elliott and Timbaland, Cam’ron, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Aaliyah and Pharrell Williams.
Zuzi’s artistry isn’t purely rooted in nostalgia. He frequently adapts the work of new school artists like; Playboi Carti, A$AP Rocky, Lil Uzi Vert or Frank Ocean for example. A common theme throughout Zuzi’s work is the artists that are featured in his brand are often originators, innovators or unique in their own way.
On top of his print work and graphics, Zuzi also has a successful line of vintage-style rap tees which he sells on his website.
We’ve caught up with the elusive figure to find out what it’s like over there on planet Zuzi.
The Culture Crypt: Tell us about yourself!
Zuzi: “I’ve been drawing since I was like five or six, thanks to my older brother. A few years later, I started focusing on making music, mainly production. I had a good run in it, but when I picked up art again, I seemed to be more successful in that field. Since then, I’ve been pushing my art as my main focus and haven’t looked back”.
Are you pleased with how your magazine turned out?
“100%, I never thought we would ever need to restock it, let alone sell over 50 copies. The mag completely exceeded my expectations”.
“I’m going to try to release a magazine yearly. I’m going to keep pushing out clothing, but I’m trying to expand into a solo brand in the future. I haven’t fully rolled out my solo brand, but I’m still working on it”
Music is synonymous with your brand, what are some of your favourite albums?
“Ranking albums is tough, but if I had to pick five of my favourites out of order, I would say In My Mind by Pharrell as well as Fly or Die and In Search Of... by N.E.R.D. Those three albums really are The Neptunes production at their best. Wanderland by Kelis and Aaliyah’s self-titled album rank pretty highly for me too.”
Zuzi’s love and appreciation for Pharrell, The Neptunes and his BBC Ice Cream/BAPE empire bleeds through into his work. Zuzi seeks to bring their once signature ahead-of-the-curve cool factor they carried into the mainstream with a modern twist. Catch Zuzi detailing the history and apparel of Vintage BBC Ice Cream or reinventing old cell phone ads with rappers.
If you could recommend new fans to check something out, what would it be?
“My website. It deserves a lot more love. I think it stands out from all the competition easily. I recommend people to just have a look at it. I’m working on more games to get featured on the site eventually. At the moment we only have an old Baby Milo game, but there will be more coming soon”.
Zuzi’s site also offers some of his coveted print artworks for sale. This includes a 2000s-era iPod ad, a College Dropout BAPESTA poster and an '‘80s-inspired Cactus Jack Jordan I reimagining.
What have you enjoyed working on the most?
“My magazine is my favourite project of mine. My mag has some of my best work, it holds a lot of unique ideas in there. If you are a fan of rap and R&B old or new, we have something in there for you”.
Be sure to check out Zuzi’s website here. Also, be sure to support his Instagram and Tumblr too.
