Former One Direction bandmate Zayn Malik is set to release a song in which he details his experience of racism when he was a member of the 2010s boy band.
Malik — who has a Pakistani and Muslim background — shared a preview of the track, titled “Fuchsia Sea”, on Sunday, and it features a rap verse which touches on his feelings of being othered in the music industry.
“Do you remember every conversation? ‘cos I have been conscious of every connotation,” Malik sings on the jazz-infused track.
“I’m a convert to the concert, and I did that for inflation, ‘cos I worked hard in a White band, and they still laughed at the Asian.”
Malik teased that the new song is “coming soon”, but stopped short of revealing an exact release date.
It’s not the first time the One Directioner — who was the first to leave the group ahead of its disbandment in 2015 — has addressed being at the receiving end of racism in his music.
In 2021, a song of his titled “Yellow Metal (Cathartic)” leaked on social media, and it likewise saw him reflect on being discriminated against as a child, including “hittin’ the kids that would call me ‘Paki’” and being “treat[ed] like my grandpa, say I came up off the boat”.
It’s not known whether “Fuchsia Sea” will serve as a standalone single or be included as part of a broader project, but it will mark Malik’s first major release since his 2018 album Icarus Falls.
Malik has toured in the years’ since, including the run of shows he postponed in the wake of his former bandmate Liam Payne’s death last year.
The singer joined Harry Styles, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson in paying tribute to Payne at his funeral after he fell to his death from an hotel balcony in Buenos Aires last October.
Lead images: Instagram
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