It's no secret that Zayn Malik couldn't fully express himself as a member of One Direction, leading him to leave the boy band one year ago this week. Now, just four days ahead of the release of his debut solo album Mind of Mine, the "Pillowtalk" singer talked to Complex about his time in 1D, and he had so little control of his life, it even trickled down to his style.
Zayn, who has since experimented with hair colors from all over the rainbow (and greyscale), a shaved head and about a half dozen different kinds of beard said that the artistic control went all the way down to his looks. "Eventually, when I got older, I rebelled against it, and decided to keep it anyway. That was just because I looked older than the rest of them. That's one of the things that is now quite cool. I get to keep my beard. I also wanted to dye my hair when I was in the band, but I wasn't allowed to," he said.
And, of course, the lack of authenticity is something that troubled Zayn about being in a boy band.
"That was something that was always underlying, and ended up as the main factor of me leaving in the end," he revealed. "It was about denying the authenticity of who I was, and what I enjoyed about music, and why I got into it. That was always there. It was one of the things that wasn't going to go away, so I had to go away."
He also said his lack of creative input led to a lack of interest in One Direction, leading to his reputation in the band as the quiet and mysterious one. It's not that he was quiet... it's just he had nothing to say.
"In terms of me being described as the mysterious one, that was put on me as a stigma because I didn't get the chance to speak as much. The other boys' personalities were much more forward. They would answer the questions. I would let that happen because, like I said, I didn't have any creative input there. I didn't feel like I was going to say anything about it anyway," Zayn said.
Authenticity is clearly important to the 23-year-old pop star, and cited Kanye West as an authentic voice in modern music, leading to his success despite controversy.
"I believe that success follows authenticity. People see through fake sh*t. They don't want to see that; they want a real person. That's why Kanye is so successful. He's speaking the truth, regardless of whomever he offends, he isn't bothered. That's admirable," he said.
Zayn's debut album Mind of Mine is set to be released on Friday, March 25.
