Award-winning rapper, Big Zulu, has taken to Instagram to open up about his life and reveal that he was raised by families not related to him.

He said this, as he reflected on his life before fame.

Big Zulu shared an old picture of himself singing and another of a mud house, presumably where he used to stay.

The rapper had a humble upbringing, starting off as a taxi driver on the dusty township streets of Durban before chasing his passion, music, that has afforded him a new lease on life.

In a post written in IsiZulu, Big Zulu said: “It’s difficult here. A black person is loved when he is poor and is a laughing stock. The kind of work that we do is full of hatred people swear at you and call you by all names. In this work that we do, they don’t care about us, they care about issues in our lives.

“It’s difficult. I know poverty. That’s why I always help families who are strangers to me and are in need of 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.