Zayn Malik has officially risen from the grave of former boybanders, with his first No. 1 single “Pillowtalk” topping the charts in 68 countries. It’s unnecessary to call him “Zayn Malik: The Artist Formerly from One Direction” now, because the mononymous ZAYN is preparing for the pop culture onslaught with his album “Mine of Mine”—conveniently?—scheduled to release on the anniversary of his departure from the mega group One Direction.
But, let’s not go on about “Zayn from One Direction.” Let’s talk about ZAYN. Malik has dealt with harsh criticism from 1D fans, music critics, Islamophobes, and every other person exposed to his 1D tenure. Many ZAYN fans on Twitter have supported his solo career long before exiting his former band, but fans of 1D felt “betrayed,” and wished he would fail. Sure, we’ll miss the chorus of angels when he hits that high note in “You and I,” but after his performance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ," Malik isn’t sacrificing his ability for a quick buck. “Pillowtalk” and his new song “It’s You” are already dominating the music industry. He tweeted “#REALME” in July 2015 right as he signed his record deal with RCA—and he certainly isn’t lying.
Above:
Zayn Malik performs his new song “It’s You” with his band and The Roots on "The
Tonight Show." This is Malik’s first performance as a solo artist.
Like with the many former boybanders before him, consumers always beg the question: Will he be the new Justin Timberlake? In Zayn’s case, the short answer is no, he won’t. Justin Timberlake was one of those rare boyband departures that resulted in a multimedia career with his 2002 album “Justified,” which he released while he was still technically a member of *NSYNC. Timberlake then went on to release three other studio albums, 39 singles, two compilation albums, and three extended plays. He also launched an acting career by hosting "Saturday Night Live" five times and appearing on the show a total of 15 times (where he became BFFs with the very influential Jimmy Fallon), and even taking a musical hiatus from 2008 to 2012 to star in many hit movies. The rest of *NSYNC drifted off in to boyband fantasy land while Justin continued to absorb the limelight. One Direction—although on a break—is still very much alive and well.
The difference between Timberlake and Malik rests in their former boyband glory. Justin was the “breakout” star for *NSYNC. Unless you’re a hardcore fan, you probably can’t name any other members without Google, although, Joey Fatone has oddly kept busy. Timberlake could arguably be the “lead singer” of *NSYNC. But One Direction never had a lead singer. Harry Styles may have been the favorite to go solo (and he is apparently working on material, but no one is criticizing him the way Zayn was), but 1D has always been co-equal in terms of vocal time, at least on more recent albums (we don’t need to talk about 2011’s “Up All Night”).
Above: ZAYN’s music video for his first No. 1 single “Pillowtalk.”
It’s hard to picture Malik doing a quarter of what Timberlake is doing. Don’t think this is a dig at Malik, though. Malik just has a different personality. During his time with 1D, Malik was seen as the “mysterious” one who rarely spoke up in interviews. As much as Malik tried to break off from the 1D Empire from the get-go, he stayed for the other four boys and, in all honesty, some incredibly ungrateful fans. But his personality is much more introverted than Timberlake’s. But, who knows? Maybe he’ll start.
Fans should still stick by Zayn, though. There’s no denying his vocal talent, his ability to silence a room during a performance, and let’s be honest, he might be the most attractive person currently alive on the planet. “Z016” is in full swing, whether you like it or not. Doubters may vehemently deny a lasting career, but when someone as talented as Malik stems from the World’s Biggest Boyband™, it’s hard to forget the name.
