One year after his unforgettable departure from the worldwide sensation band One Direction, Zayn Malik, 23, released his debut solo album, ‘Mind of Mine’, Friday Mar. 25. With a total of 14 songs, including hit single Pillowtalk, Mind of Mine dominated the charts.

            Malik is the first male U.K. solo artist to debut at No. 1 with their first album. He is also the first U.K. artist to debut at No. 1 with their first album, since One Direction’s 2012 album release, ‘Up All Night’.

            In late March 2015, Malik made the decision to cut loose from the British boy band to become “a normal 22 year old.”  In the process Malik broke the hearts of his and One Direction’s very large fanbase, who are known as Directioners. It was only four months prior to his departure that Malik signed to RCA, a well-known record label that has signed artists such as Chris Brown and Sia. 

            “I was shocked when Zayn left One Direction,  but to be honest, I was happy. Zayn, in my opinion, was the most talented members in the group,” said Hanna Ibrahim, junior.

            Malik’s departure seemed to initiate a ripple effect of events. Bad blood between his bandmate, Louis Tomlinson, caused a very publicized Twitter spat. Malik made a mature statement by shaving his head, and broke off his four year relationship with his girlfriend/fiance, Perrie Edwards of Little Mix.

            Pillowtalk, Malik’s first single, rose quickly up the charts to No. 1 in both the United Kingdom UK and the US. It signified everything One Direction was not, with racy lyrics and an even racier but an aesthetically pleasing music video. It’s almost as if Malik is trying to prove to everyone that he had left his boy-band roots in the past.

           “I wasn’t upset when Zayn left, because I knew he would make some amazing songs,” said Mimrah Faiz, junior.

           Other popular songs in Malik’s album include: TiO, wRoNg, beFoUr, and iT’s YoU. During the intermission: Flower,  Malik croons out a soft melody in his native language, Urdu. It’s YoU and Fool for You feature Malik’s infamous high notes.

           “My favorite song on the album is Wrong featuring Kehlani.  They sounded good together,” said Ibrahim.

           In mid-November of 2015, Fader magazine did a feature article on Zayn. Malik spoke on his thoughts about One Direction’s album.

           “That’s not music that I would listen to. As much as I was in that band, and I loved everything that we did, that’s not music that I would listen to. That’s just not who I am. I want to make music that I think is cool shit. I don’t think that’s too much to ask for,” said Malik.

           In his song, BeFoUr, Malik sings, “I’ve done this before, but not like this.” It is almost as if he is declaring his new image in the music industry. He made music with One Direction, but it was not the kind of music he likes.

          “I love all of Zayn’s songs, but I am currently obsessed with TiO. I just love that song, the whole album is great,” said Faiz.