Zayn Malik on leaving One Direction: I thought 'I just need to be me now' — theguardian.com

Zayn Malik, who quit the globe-straddling boy band One Direction in March, has spoken for the first time about his reasons for leaving, as well as what fans can expect from his coming solo album. In an interview – his first since he signed to RCA Records in July – with the Fader, Malik bemoans the lack of creative input he was allowed in the band, who were put together on The X Factor in 2010. “There was never any room for me to experiment creatively in the band,” he says. “If I would sing a hook or a verse slightly R&B, or slightly myself, 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.

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