In honor of Zayn Malik's first solo record, we track his effortlessly transformation.
It's been almost a year since rivers flowed backwards, time stood still, nations fell, and Zayn Malik announced his departure from One Direction. Hard to believe, I know. Since then the Bradford Bad Boy has gracefully transformed himself from the "mysterious one" into a pop enigma that needs only one name.
photo courtesy Fader Magazine by Francesco Nazardo
For what it's worth - Zayn has done a pretty flawless
job at distancing himself from that past life, yet he doesn't hide his gratitude for it. “I
genuinely enjoyed [the band] and did whatever I could to be myself within that,
but it’s just not where I sit as a musician,” he told Billboard Magazine in
November, "It’s good music, but I don’t fuck with it."
Instead his debut solo album (which is to be christened Mind of Mine and due March 25th) will be more in the vein of Drake, the Weeknd, and even A$AP Rocky. Zayn explained the new album to Fader Magazine: “...all the songs are different genres,” he said. “They don’t really fit a specific type of music. They’re not like, ‘This is funk, this is soul, this is upbeat, this is a dance tune.’ Nothing is like that. I don’t really know what my style is yet. I’m kind of just showing what my influences are. Depending on what the reaction is, then I’ll go somewhere with that. If people like that I’m a bit more R&B, then I’ll do more R&B on my next album. If they like the fact that there’s reggae on there, I might do more reggae. It’s just depending on what they want and what I feel comfortable with at the time. I might even have a rock tune on the album, but it’s kind of like R&B-rock.”
Instead his debut solo album (which is to be christened Mind of Mine and due March 25th) will be more in the vein of Drake, the Weeknd, and even A$AP Rocky. Zayn explained the new album to Fader Magazine: “...all the songs are different genres,” he said. “They don’t really fit a specific type of music. They’re not like, ‘This is funk, this is soul, this is upbeat, this is a dance tune.’ Nothing is like that. I don’t really know what my style is yet. I’m kind of just showing what my influences are. Depending on what the reaction is, then I’ll go somewhere with that. If people like that I’m a bit more R&B, then I’ll do more R&B on my next album. If they like the fact that there’s reggae on there, I might do more reggae. It’s just depending on what they want and what I feel comfortable with at the time. I might even have a rock tune on the album, but it’s kind of like R&B-rock.”
photo courtesy Billboard: Miller Mobley.
This new vibe is totally understandable when looking
back at his previous job. While the other boys fawned over John Mayer and Fleetwood Mac, Zayn was bowing down to artists like Frank Ocean. When 1D needed a smooth and delicious high
note that could make any human being weak in all the places, it would go to
Zayn. But, “If I would sing a hook or a verse slightly R&B, or
slightly myself, it would always be recorded 50 times until there was a straight
version that was pop, generic as fuck, so they could use that version," telling Fader late last year. "Whenever
I would suggest something, it was like it didn’t fit us. There was just a
general conception that the management already had of what they want for the
band, and I just wasn’t convinced with what we were selling. I wasn’t 100
percent behind the music. It wasn’t me." But something tells me that, right now, we are seeing the 100% real Zayn Malik. If last year wasn't his year, then this one will be.
Just call 2016, #Z016 (He already has.) AB
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