Robert Payne, who performs under the name Zazu x2, isn't just a rapper working on an upcoming album. He's a rapper majoring in biological engineering. MAX BEECHING/Staff

Robert Payne doesn’t like labels.

“I don’t like to say I’m a rapper,” said Payne, who is better known as Zazu x2. “I say I’m an audio artist because I feel like rap comes with a connotation that I don’t associate myself with.”

His stage name came during orientation at Southern Polytechnic State University, the school he transferred from.

“Three of the four guys’ names were Robert,” he said. “I had to think of a different name and Zazu came up. I love Disney so it popped in my head.”

And not just Disney things in general. Payne means “The Lion King.”

Unlikely for a guy who raps-but-isn’t-a-rapper, Payne is also a junior majoring in biological engineering.

He chose the path because of his love of engineering and the medical field.

“I didn’t want to do anything that I knew I could grow up and accomplish without a degree,” Payne said.

The upcoming album, entitled “Better Red than Never,” is going to be released online Sept. 10 — and it’ll be free.

“I don’t want to make people pay to listen to my music because there are so many great artists I hear day-to-day, not even pirated music, but just people releasing free stuff day-to-day,” he said. “I feel like if they can do that, and that’s how they live then I can do that. I make my money in different ways, so I feel like music should just be shared.”

More, the work is also tied to his experiences rather than going the route of being pop-oriented or being random in his lyrics — despite his album’s random name.

“There is actually [a track] titled ‘Gwendolyn,’ which is about my aunt who died from cancer,” Payne said. “A lot of [my songs] are really autobiographical. They are just telling about myself or my point of view with things I see every day.”

Those style choices are drawn from a specturm, as Payne is musically influenced by Kid Cudi, Arctic Monkeys and most notably, Andre 3000.

“I like all music, but I don’t particularly care for the country sound or the heavy-house music,” he said. “I do like the new dub step movement that is going on. I like the down south southern radio rap beats that pull bass and are muddy sounding.”

Outside of music and engineering, Payne also does volunteering by helping out with Red Cross and mentoring kids in public schools.

“I felt like if there was somebody who came to me when I was really young — I chose this path on my own — but if there was somebody there initially I would have had my eyes set so much higher than I do now,” he said. “Just knowing the potential that could happen and seeing somebody further along doing that, gives you more confidence as a kid. And I want to be that person that goes back to the schools and shows that I’m doing this.”

Payne’s work as Zazu x2 has given him the opportunity to connect with other musicians globally.

He’s is working with artists from Boston and London, as well as Parisian producer J&D on the track “Les Matins Heureux”; and hopes that with the release of the new album, his music will garner more attention — not only in Athens but the online world as well.

But with all the potential he has before him, Payne has not forgotten how far he’s gone, or come.

“The way I feel about anything in life is you have the right to not help someone if no one helped you get to where you were, but no one got to where they are solely on their own,” he said. “If someone helped you out, you should return the favor and help somebody get to where they are going.”