Malik in concert in 2014
Social media went crazy on Jan. 29 when former One Direction heartthrob, Zayn Malik, released the new single “PillowTalk” from his upcoming album “Mind of Mine,” which is coming out on Mar. 25. Just two nights after its release, the single rose to No. 1 on the iTunes charts, marking the singer as one to watch.
Even after millions of “Directioners” mourned his departure from British boy-band One Direction in early 2015, many havebeen anticipating his new music as a solo artist.
After only a year away from the band and working non-stop on his new album, Malik is ready to embrace the spotlight once again.
Along with his new single, Malik released a steamy music video for the song starring himself and rumored girlfriend, model Gigi Hadid. The video already has over 30 million views on YouTube, a number that will continue to rise and Malik can thank a number of One Direction fans, who continue to support his career even though he broke their hearts last year, for this achievement.
Interestingly enough, Malik chose to release his debut album exactly one year after his departure from One Direction. Coincidence? Probably not. He explained in an interview with Beats 1 that, throughout his time with the band, he would always be writing his own songs on the side and never really felt a great musical or creative connection with the other guys in the group. He told Beats 1’s Zane Lowe, “I never really wanted to be there, like in the band.”
Now that it’s out, we can’t help but speculate that Malik was unhappy the entire time he was in One Direction. Dissing the band multiple times to different sources or in interviews, Malik clearly showed he’s always wanted the day to come where he could put out his own music.
With the anticipated release of his album, fans are also waiting for an announcement of a “Mind of Mine” tour. Malik claims he will do a tour if he sees that people are really liking his music. It was announced, however, that, in this album, there will be a collaboration with singer-songwriter Kehlani in one or maybe more than one song.
This is a huge time for Malik and his career as he tries to make it big on his own. From the looks of it now, it seems like he won’t have any trouble doing that. With just one single out, radio stations are constantly getting requests to play “PillowTalk.” Now we just have to wait for more of his music to be released in order to determine whether Malik’s decision to leave One Direction was really the best idea.
