This should come as no surprise, as “Where Are Ü Now” ft. Justin Bieber was essentially the song of 2015. To cap off a tremendous year for Skrillex and Diplo, Jack Ü were nominated for two dance categories at next year’s GRAMMY Awards.
Zhu, The Mystery Man Behind 'Faded,' Opens Up (A Little) Pre-Grammys
That's the start of Zhu's 2014 single "Faded," and until recently, it was almost all the information we had from the young producer. No one knew the full name of the artist behind the project. There were no photographs or interviews.
But that was enough to make him one of dance music's most coveted new artists.
Despite never having shown his face onstage, Zhu has already signed a major-label deal with Columbia Records, and "Faded" — with tens of millions of YouTube plays — is nominated for best dance recording at Sunday's Grammy Awards.
For a producer who cultivated so much intrigue by disappearing, Grammy week will be Zhu's brightest spotlight yet. And he's finally, just barely, ready to talk about it.
On Wednesday afternoon, Zhu and a half-dozen members of his label and management staff arrived at the offices of the Los Angeles Times for his first American interview and first photo shoot (he'd previously spoken once, for a few minutes, to the Australian radio station Triple J, which championed "Faded" there).
This much Zhu confirmed: His name is Steven Zhu, he's 25, grew up in San Francisco but now lives in L.A., and he is the producer and main vocalist behind his tracks. (Zhu said that he got his musical start "writing for other people" but wouldn't say who and described the tracks' impact as "nothing big.") In person, he looks the part of a late-night house music artist on the upswing: Black sunglasses, black leather jacket, choppy black haircut and low-slung white T-shirt.
