For about three hours, the EDM Internets have been going ham with speculation of ZHU being another side project of Skrillex's. Why? From what the YouTube uploader says, the video is apparently the end of ZHU's performance at Stereosonic Brisbane, where he's playing "Faded." The song then mixes into "My Name Is Skrillex," and when the curtain that was up during ZHU's live set (and is a big part of his live shows, as seen in this HARD Day of the Dead clip) drops, Skrillex appears, saying "thank you so much. I hope you like the ZHU projects!" Now everyone is thinking that Skrillex is either trolling by being ZHU, or trolling people into thinking that he is ZHU.
We can see why that might confuse some (especially with that baiting headline), to the point where a Twitter search for "Skrillex ZHU" nets all kinds of ZOMGs and WTFs. And we'd be tripping if we hadn't had one of our DAD readers basically decipher the ZHU mystery back February. Or if Billboard hadn't practically confirmed that ZHU was a 25-year-old producer named Steven Zhu back in November. Now, we admit, ZHU's not admitted to who he is, so it's hard to give this 100% confirmation, but then again, ZHU doesn't confirm anything. He's been purposefully cryptic about his identity, release dates, and everything... it's a part of the mystique.
Sadly, maybe that fact is enough to cast a shadow of doubt for those still believing Skrillex is ZHU, right? Well, The FPIA has a great suggestion:
1.
Why don't we do just that! Doing a search of the ASCAP site is pretty damn simple, so let's see what we find when we look for performers named ZHU:
2.
Looks like there are three remixes of ZHU's Grammy-nominated single "Faded" and the second track we heard from him this year, "Superfriends," up there. Let's take a look at the Lido remix of "Faded":
3.
As you can see, the first name—Peder Losnegaard—is Lido's real name, while the second is... wait for it... Steven Zhu. For those wondering, it's the exact same for the Odesza and The Magician remixes:
4.
5.
And for shits and giggles, let's just take a look at what comes up for "Superfriends":
6.
Keep in mind that none of these say Sonny Moore, which is Skrillex's real name. That should be enough proof... right? We'd hope so... if not, there are some unexplained questions, like why would Skrillex want to keep this side of his production such a secret? How could he? Dog Blood and Jack U are Skrillex projects that haven't been secrets at all. And Skrillex told me earlier this year that his music isn't about one particular sound, which is how he can drop tracks like "Fuck That" and "Try It Out" on the same album. Also, why would Skrillex have some other guy walking around as ZHU? There are numerous instances over the last few months of ZHU shows going down in cities that Skrillex plain wasn't in.
Wait, we've got it! Maybe Skrillex is EDM's Andy Kaufman, and ZHU is his Tony Clifton. Maybe ZHU is the new Yolo Bear. Or maybe Skrillex likes to big up his friends, similar to how he took over Triple J with Diplo, What So Not, and Carmada over the weekend. Whatever the case may be, until either Skrillex or ZHU come out and say "we are not the same person," the Twitters will keep tweeting and the people will keep speculating. Wait a minute...
Hmmm... Those glasses seem familiar... pic.twitter.com/f6Ytth2YYn
— Slobby Claus (@EDMslob) December 7, 2014
