It has been eight months since Zayn Malik left One Direction. Back in March, the singer said that he was leaving the boy band so he can live as a normal 22-year-old. The band was still on the Asian leg of their world tour when Malik suddenly decided to leave, and his departure shocked Directioners all over the world.
Since then, Malik has never spoken about the reason why he left the band after performing with Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, and Niall Horan for five years, but now, in a brand new interview with The Fader, the singer explained his reasons for leaving, saying that he wasn't "100 percent behind the music."
"There was never any room for me to experiment creatively in the band," he revealed. Malik said that if he would sing a verse that was "slightly R&B," which is his style of music, they would record the song over and over "until there was a straight version that was pop, generic" and that the record producers would use that version.
"I just wasn't convinced with what we were selling," he said. "It wasn't me. It was music that was already given to us, and we were told that this is what is going to sell to the people."
He added that though they were the most famous boyband in the world, things did not feel right for him and that they were told to be happy about something that they truly were not happy about.
When he quit, Malik said that he just thought about going home and that he had enough of the One Direction experience.
"I woke up on that morning… and was like, 'I need to go home. I just need to be me now, because I've had enough,'" he said.
Five months after he left the band, Malik made headlines again when news broke that he and Perrie Edwards called off their engagement. That time, the Sun reported that he broke up with her via text message, and Malik denied this.
"I have more respect for Perrie than to end anything over text message. I love her a lot, and I always will, and I would never end our relationship over four years like that," said the singer.
Malik added that he did not want to explain why they ended their relationship but wanted the public to know that he didn't break things off with the Little Mix singer the way it was reported by the Sun.
