‘’Teenage heartthrob Zayn Malik has officially quit One Direction,” headlines broadcasted across the Internet and entertainment reports all over the world. Fans of Malik were crying including me. What was I doing when I found out that Zayn left the band that I had been obsessed over the last few years? I was at my neighbor’s house and she had just told me that Zayn left One Direction. I did not believe her at first and I checked the Internet to see if my neighbor was telling the truth. To my dismay, she was right and my favorite band member had left the glorious group. I was distraught because he is my favorite singer and I look up to him as a celebrity role model.

Although I was upset at first, I learned to accept the change. Both 2015 and 2016  were eventful years for Malik. After a few months, Malik made demo song called “I Won’t Mind” with another singer named Naughty Boy. Later in 2015, Malik had signed a deal with RCA Records, owned by Sony Records, the same record label in which One Direction was signed with before Malik left. He attended interviews upon interviews all in hope to advertise for his first solo album Mind of Mine which would be released on March 25, 2016. What is so great about Mind of Mine? It showcases Malik’s true ability to both work with others and solo in order to build a name for himself instead of another name in a list of band members. He wrote most of the songs along with other people, but his debut album wowed listeners everywhere with the power of his single voice. Another reason why I love the album is because of it’s incorrect use of capitalization with song titles like this “MiNd Of MiNe or PiLlOw TaLk”. I find this amusing because he wanted to be an English teacher before he became a singer.

My favorite song from Mind Of Mine is “It’s You.” This song talks about heartbreak and how it helped him. In an interview with Zane Lowe from Radio 1 Beats, Malik said: “I just needed to put myself out there on that because it was some kind of therapy and it helped me go through some things I was dealing with.” Another song that I really love is “Flower.”  “Flower” is a song in Urdu, a language that is spoken mostly in Pakistan. Malik was inspired by his Pakistani father and listened to Pakistani artists such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Malik wanted to dedicate the song to his dad, Yaser Malik, who came from Pakistan to England. In addition to this, he wanted to tribute his Pakistani heritage. My third favorite song from the album is “Like I Would.” I love this song because it has fun beat to it and it talks about how Zayn can treat a girl better than her ex-boyfriend.

Mind of Mine has affected me personally because as a huge fan of both One Direction and Malik, he has shown his fans that he is not just a “Bradford bad boy” which fans affectionately call him. He is chasing his dream which was to become a solo singer, not just another member of a boyband. Like Malik’s former Twitter bio said,  “Just close your eyes and enjoy the roller coaster that is life,” addressing the fact that he was moving on from the boy band. To all the Zquads which Zayn’s fans are called out there including me, this quote means that life has ups and downs and sometimes you have to enjoy what life gives you even if you don’t enjoy the life that you have right now.

Zayn has amazed his fans with this album and he is going to amaze more fans when he releases his second album later this year .