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Zayn Malik Already Has a Demo Out, “I Won’t Mind,” and One Directioners Are Furious

It took him less than a week after leaving 1D to release something new, a collaboration with UK producer Naughty Boy

Mar 31, 2015 10:21 GMT  ·  By
Zayn Malik is out of One Direction, already working on a solo material
   Zayn Malik is out of One Direction, already working on a solo material

Talk about an unexpected surprise: less than a week after announcing that he was leaving One Direction and within 24 hours of reports emerging that he was already working on a solo album, Zayn Malik has a new demo out.

It’s called “I Won’t Mind” and it’s a collaboration with UK producer Naughty Boy, with whom he was photographed at a London recording studio over the weekend. It was Naughty Boy who posted it online on Twitter, which sparked furious reactions from the fans and even Louis Tomlinson from 1D.

“I Won’t Mind” is beautiful

So Naughty Boy posted the song on Soundcloud and then tweeted about it, and in a matter of minutes, he was getting plenty of hate from One Directioners. Within hours #SuspendNaughtyBoy was trending, with fans of the remaining 4 members of One Direction crying for a boycott of the producers.

Even Louis got involved, which served to further fuel fans’ anger: in a tweet, he accused Naughty Boy of being immature by looking to get a rise out of fans at such a delicate time. He also seemed to be saying that the producer shouldn’t brag about working with Zayn when the band was going through such a rough patch.

“There is nothing but love for what was left behind. thats why we don't mind. ;) #2016 #zaughty #zindabad,” Naughty Boy tweeted at some point, which seems to apply to his reaction to all the hate he’s getting.

All this drama aside, the demo is just beautiful. If Zayn decides to go solo, which is probably what will happen, and he will go in this direction, his first proper release will have been worth the tears of the fans.

For the record, Zayn told the world that he was leaving the band because he wanted to be a “normal 22-year-old” who could live out of the spotlight if he so wanted.

Zayn has been planning his escape for a very long time

This might be difficult for fans to accept, but that’s probably the reality. Billboard has a very interesting piece on the future of One Direction as a 4-member act and how they stand to make less money from the 2 albums they still owe Sony under their 2013 deal, because of Zayn’s departure.

He, on the other hand, thanks to the exit clause in his contract, could actually negotiate a deal for his solo album that will see him make considerably more money than he would have as one fifth of One Direction.

So for all his talk about wanting out of the spotlight, it sure looks like this is a clear case of the grass being greener on the other side. In Zayn’s case, if he plays his cards right, this might turn out to be true.

The same trade publication also has quotes from several insiders, a couple of which confirm that he’d been planning his “escape” for months. It turns out he was never sick or crippled with anxiety, which were the reasons he cited for dropping out of 1D promo appearances: he merely felt as if his heart was no longer in it, so he didn’t want to participate.