ZHU

ZHU is the stage name of Steven Zhu, an American electronic music producer and singer-songwriter who built his early career around anonymity, performing masked and refusing interviews until his identity became public around 2014. He broke through with the single «Faded», a moody, bass-driven house track that received a Grammy nomination and charted in the UK, establishing the dark, sensual, deep-house-meets-pop sound that would define his catalogue. That single anchored his debut EP The Nightday, released through his own imprint Mind of a Genius.

His debut album GENERATIONWHY continued to develop his signature blend of house, R&B, and pop songwriting, with ZHU handling both production and vocals himself, a rarity in dance music at the time. Tracks like «In the Morning» and «Cocaine Model» showcased his ability to merge club-ready rhythms with introspective, moody lyricism. He has also explored collaborative and rock-adjacent territory, including work with acts like NGHTMRE and appearances that pushed him beyond pure dance music.

In 2018 he released Ringo's Desert, a desert-themed concept project that fed into his elaborate, visually driven Dune live shows, combining art installations, fashion, and cinematic staging. ZHU has remained a distinctive figure in electronic music for treating his live performances and visual identity as inseparable from the music itself, and for maintaining an enigmatic public persona even after being unmasked.