‘I Can Finally Sing About Sex’ — Zayn Malik Celebrates Freedom Post-One Direction

Hollywood Life reports that Zayn Malik has spoken about his time in One Direction yet again. Malik stated that he was not allowed to sing about sex during his time in 1D, and he is finally allowed to address the topic now that he is a solo artist.

“I was also able to sing about a subject that I hadn’t really been able to go near while I was in One Direction: sex.”

Zayn makes the comments in his forthcoming autobiography. A text excerpt from the book has been released, according to a separate Hollywood Life report, and publisher Penguin says that the book will provide a “no-holds-barred” insight into Zayn that is “intimate” and “raw.”

“Global superstar Zayn shares a photographic journey of his life since leaving One Direction. Zayn opens up with this collection of thoughts, inspiration, and never-before-seen personal photographs. After five years of massive success with One Direction, Zayn launched his career as a solo artist with Mind of Mine, becoming one of the most successful artists in the world. Now, for the first time ever, Zayn is going to tell and show all in this intimate and raw scrapbook of his life. Never-before-released photos give readers insight to Zayn, no-holds-barred.”

In the released excerpt, Zayn reveals that “every lyric I’ve ever written has a story behind it,” and discusses his No. 1, debut single, “Pillowtalk.” Malik talks about how the single affirmed his belief that he was on the right track with his sound. As soon as the song was finished, Zayn knew that he was moving in precisely the direction he wanted to, according to new reports.

This must have been heartening indeed — Zayn risked a lot to make that first solo record, breaking with the heavyweight teams that worked with One Direction and abandoning the vessel that shot him to success along with bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, and Louis Tomlinson.

“All the hard work that went into the creation of ‘Pillowtalk’ was worthwhile because, as soon as it was finished, I intuitively felt I was on the right path… It was a sick cut, nailing the exact sound I wanted to capture in my music.”

Zayn broke dramatically with the sound and PG-rated lyrical content of One Direction, recruiting his supermodel girlfriend Gigi Hadid to star in the sexy “Pillowtalk” video, dropping the f-word in the song’s chorus, and featuring on a very explicit track called “F*** you back to sleep” with Usher and Chris Brown, according to MTV.

Anne Twist, the mother of Zayn’s ex-bandmate Harry Styles, even seemed to diss Zayn’s sexy new direction when she retweeted a Billboard article on Twitter earlier this year. Anne shared an article about Harry’s upcoming solo album that contained a line about Zayn. The writer jokes about how sex-focused Zayn’s album Mind of Mine was, saying that Zayn should have just gone ahead and called his album Yes, I Do Have Lots of Sex.

“Zayn relished the newfound freedom. The solo debut he dropped earlier this year might as well have been titled Yes, I Do Have Lots of Sex…“

Harry Styles' solo album: What we do (& don't) want to hear https://t.co/xvNvSrWCxd pic.twitter.com/bxZm5vBE95

— billboard (@billboard) May 20, 2016

The article shared by Harry’s mom also reflects that Mind of Mine seemed heavily influenced by The Weeknd and that it was “what you’d expect from a real, live 23-year-old artist who suddenly no longer has to conform to a family-friendly public image.”

Zayn complained about the family-friendly, RnB-lite image and sound of One Direction after he quit the band, saying the boys were told that their music was going to sell to a particular bunch of people, and they were to follow the rules and do what their bosses told them. Zayn’s lifestyle clashed head-on with the PG-rated image of 1D when he was captured on film smoking what looked like a joint with bandmate Louis Tomlinson. Zayn could also be heard complaining about the cheesy questions the One Direction boys were asked in interviews and the corny material that was published in their books.

It sounds like Zayn will be making up for lost time when he releases his “raw” new autobiography.

[Featured Image by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images]