Zayn Malik says he’ll now be making “real music”, having signed a deal with record company RCA Records, he revealed in a Twitter post, making a not-so-subtle dig his former band One Direction.
The 22-year-old singer posted a photograph of him signing the deal, which comes after he quit the boyband in March this year saying he wanted to be a “normal 22-year-old”.
A normal 22-year-old with a record deal, it seems.
On Wednesday he wrote: “I guess I never explained why I left, it was for this moment to be given the opportunity to show you who i really am! #realmusic #RCA !! ... #REALME [sic].’
It’s all been done with his boss Simon Cowell’s blessing, however.
“We have been working on this for a while and I am pleased to say congratulations to @Zaynmalik on signing with @RCARecords,” Cowell tweeted. RCA is a division of Sony Music, which also owns Cowell’s label Syco — home to One Direction.
Malik has also changed his management company, moving to Turn First Artists, which is the home to the likes of Ellie Goulding and Rita Ora.
According to Billboard, Malik will be managed by the company’s Sarah Stennett, the same person responsible for Iggy Azalea’s career.
Last week, Malik helped celebrate One Direction’s fifth anniversary by re-tweeting former bandmate Liam Payne’s post that read: “Wowwwww 5 years 5 boys what an amazing journey I couldn’t thank you all ever enough and thank you Louis Niall Harry and Zayn for everything.”
