Zayn Malik has opened up about his time in One Direction, saying it 'didn't feel authentic' and that the music the band made was not the type he would have listened to outside of the group. The Bradford-born singer, who rose to fame as part of the boy band in 2010, made the comments during an interview on The Smallzy Show.
Malik, who left the group in 2015, explained that he now feels more authentic in his solo career. 'From an artistic perspective, always,' he said when asked if he feels more authentic with age. 'Whether you're painting, cooking, singing, you always want to be as true and authentic to yourself, that's always going to land.'
The singer also addressed the importance of speaking his truth, adding: 'I always feel like the reward of telling the truth and speaking your truth in whichever way you want to frame that, is always way more than refraining from it.'
Malik's comments come amid reports of a past altercation with former bandmate Louis Tomlinson, though neither has publicly addressed the claims. Meanwhile, Malik recently postponed promotional events for his fifth studio album, Konnakol, after being hospitalised with a mystery illness, which he described as a 'long week' in a social media post thanking fans and hospital staff.
