Why "Mind of Mine" is Exactly What Zayn Needed

Ever since March 25, 2015, One Direction fans and Zayn Malik "Stans" have been in a frenzy since Zayn's, 23, departure from the famous boy band. The Bradford native claims he left the band to pursue a calmer and relaxed life as a 22 year old. 

Zayn's decision flooded the news and shocked fans worldwide. Many claim he parted ways after a photo of him and a mysterious blond girl leaked whilst touring in Asia. Zayn was quick to dissuade the rumors and took it as a chance to exit the tour. A week later, he announced he will be formally leaving One Direction altogether. 

2015 was a pivotal year for Zayn in both a good and bad way. He received a wave of backlash and hurtful remarks, usually racist and pertaining to the artists religion. However, the unwavering support of his fans allowed Zayn to have a base to continue his career. 

Nearing the time of his departure, Zayn befriended music producer Naughty Boy. This relationship allowed Zayn to experience with music in his own way. The producer proudly supported and advocated Zayn's artistic ability. The slow, indie tune "I Won't Mind" was a product of their time spent. 

Unfortunately, the friendship soon expired and the fall out was showcased on Twitter with Zayn making remarks to the producers weight. A couple months afterwards, Zayn began to work with Grammy award winning producer, James "Malay" Ho. Ho's past clients included artists such as John Legend, Alicia Keyes and Tori Kelly.

When news came out that the two were working together, critics and fans from all over began to pay closer attention. Ho was the mastermind behind Frank Oceans's "Channel Orange" which earned the artist a Grammy for its phenomenal work.  

After leaving the famous boy band, Zayn signed over to RCA Record label to join the likes of Chris Brown, Brittany Spears, Snoop Dogg and other influential artists. Zayn "Stan's" all over were shaking behind their screens with anticipation for his upcoming work and he did not disappoint.

His first solo debut single "Pillowtalk" was an international success. In fact, Zayn became the first U.K solo male artist to reach number one in U.S charts. He released a music video the same which starred his current girlfriend, supermodel Gigi Hadid. 

A couple weeks later, he performed his next single "It's YoU" on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon in mid-February. The slow, melodic tune infused with soft falsettos warmed the hearts of the audience and fans alike. 

Zayn performed his single "It's YoU" on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Feb.17, 2016

This was finally Zayn's chance to express himself to the world with the music he's always wanted to sing. Fans who have followed the artist since he was in One Direction were well aware of Zayn's novel interests that were outside the band. 

“It’s all very sparse and random. There’s some R&B more inflected, and others that are like reggae-sounding," Zayn confirmed to The Daily Star, "They’re all kind of different thoughts. The music reflects that as well because they’re different emotions, so you feel different things through each song." 

One year after his departure from One Direction (coincidence?), Zayn released his debut album "Mind of Mine." His album generated an immense amount of success. Zayn is one of only three artists to have a debut album and single hit number on both Billboard's 200 and the Hit 100, according to NME. 

                                          Album cover for Zayn's solo debut album "Mind of Mine"

Anyone who has listened to "Mind of Mine" can easily agree with his statement. With the mooody, slightly funky beat of "BeFoUr" portrays to the mid 2000’s Justin Timberlake/Usher-esque vibe that “SHE DON’T LOVE ME” exhibits, Zayn’s wide array of interests eloquently comes together to create an album injected with sexual references and soft tales of love.

"Mind of Mine" is Zayn's way of proving to the world who he truly is. The artist mentioned in his Fader interview that his father, Yaser, had a strong influence with his tastes in music. 

It was a lot of R&B, a lot of R. Kelly, a lot of Usher, a lot of Donell Jones, a lot of Prince. He used to play a lot of rap as well, 2Pac and Biggie. A lot of bop, a lot of reggae, Gregory Isaac and weird artists like Yellowman.

-  Zayn said to Fader. 

While in One Direction, Zayn did not have much say when it came to what music the band could produce. He also mentioned in the Fader interview that he would rehearse or try to experiment with different genres and 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."

There is nothing worse than placing limits on an artist and their ability. From the beginning, Zayn was forced to conform to the overused pop bullshit that rang in millions for the band. Zayn couldn't unleash his vision through his music because he was in One Direction. 

But Zayn wasn't the only member to dabble around with music. Current member Liam Payne has been seen doing just so. According to Billboard, Payne has been seen working in the studio with rapper Juicy J and producer TM 88 of 808 Mafia. Payne released a teaser on his Instagram back in January of one of their racks. No word has been said by the source on whether Payne had any plans of his own to move forward.

"Mind of Mine" has been out for just about two weeks now and continues to make success. The world has finally been given a look inside who Zayn really is.