'I know hunger and being poor' — Big Zulu gets real about fame and the come up

Rapper Big Zulu has reflected on his life before fame, revealing that he was raised by families not related to him.

Taking to his Instagram timeline, the star shared an old photo of himself singing and another of a mud house, reminiscing about his life before fame.

The post written in isiZulu translated: "It's difficult here. When black people are poor they become a laughing stock. The sort of work we do is full of hate and sins. When you succeed you gain haters and people swear at you and call you by all names. In this work we do they don't care about us, they only care about issues we have."

He opened up about his childhood and how he got help from people he didn’t know.

"It's difficult, I know hunger/being poor, that is why I'm always helping families who are strangers to me that need help, because I come from humble beginnings in Bergville. I was raised by families that were not related to me.

"Even now I'm where I am because of love I received from strangers. Thanks a lot, Nkabi Nation for the love and support in all. Thanks a lot."

Big Zulu is vocal about people that had an impact in his life. He paid homage to the late rapper Pro Kid in his debut album Ichwane Lenyoka. 

After the release of 10 songs from his album exclusively on Telkom Music, the Imali Eningi hitmaker told TshisaLIVE about the importance of including the late rapper in his album.

“I think it was important to include him because he was one of the first people that we should respect when it comes to Mzansi hip-hop. Today we are all rapping because of him, so it was important for me to show my respect for him."