Almost one full year ago Zayn Malik announced to the world that he was leaving the band One Direction. The band formed on the British version of "The X Factor" back in 2010. The five guys auditioned as solo artists and did not make it through, but Simon Cowell had the idea to form them into a band, and One Direction was born. The boys did not win the British competition, but came close by winning third. Their fan base on the show was just the start of a new music era.

Winning third did not stop the five guys from becoming famous, and they became famous fast. They were compared to bands like the Beatles, NSYNC and Backstreet Boys. They were and are popular among teenage girls, and for the past five years, the band has been traveling worldwide on concert tours.

The boys never really got a break; four albums in four years is pretty crazy for any artist or band. On top of that, the boys toured for every concert, except their most recent release “Made in the A.M.” No wonder Zayn Malik was ready to break out. He revealed he did not particularly like the new album nor did he buy it. It is not certain if that's because he was not a part of it, or because he literally did not like it.

In a recent interview with Beats 1, Malik admits to never really wanting to be in the band because he had different ideas and a different music sound that he could never showcase in a band with four other guys. His heart was never fully in; he always wanted something more.

"I think I always kind of wanted to go. From like the first year really, I never really wanted to be there in the band. I just gave it a go because it was there at the time and then when I realized the direction we were going in with the music, I instantly realized it wasn't for me because I realized I couldn't put any input in; I couldn't give my opinion on this or that because it didn't fit the grain of what we were as a band or what we represented. So that's when it became frustrating for me, that's when I had to be like, I've got to start thinking about myself,” Malik said.

Zayn just released his new single and music video (above) called "Pillowtalk." I personally love his new song and cannot wait until the full album comes out. Though it's heartbreaking for the Directioners (One Direction fans), if Malik is happy being a solo artist, then we should be happy too! He has a newfound appreciation for his fans because he is not sharing them with four other guys. Not only did his sound change from One Direction to being a solo artist, his looks changed too. He can now freely express himself through his own sounds, which is why people love music in the first place.