L.A.-based DJ/producer Steven Zhu – better known by his stage name, ZHU – has made his BBC Radio 1 debut, and it’s pretty much the future of groove. We were looking forward to it as much as anybody, and we feel confident in asserting that the end result was well worth the hype.
The mix opens with a soulful, electric guitar-driven ID in the same vein as Carlos Santana’s “Black Magic Woman,” which ZHU has used to open countless recent sets. It then segues into a VIP of the artist’s own “Superfriends” before a string of pop and hip-hop remixes and edits, including T-Pain’s “Bartender,” Michael Jackson’s Thriller and both “I Like The Way You Move” and “Ms. Jackson” by Outkast. finally, the mix wraps up with another ID, this one more lyrically driven than the first, as well as some closing comments by BBC Radio 1 host Pete Tong.
Much like his releases, ZHU’s mix succeeds in appealing to the sensibilities of proper house heads while incorporating elements of pop, tropical house and future house. Knowing that he has a full-length album in the works, the tracks that his team has allowed to trickle out serve to keep his name in people’s mouths in the months leading up to its release.
Tell us, did you enjoy ZHU‘s BBC Radio 1 debut as much as we did? If you haven’t yet, listen to it above and let us know in the comments section below.