Good lord, I really don’t like Zayn Malik’s shaved head. He’s SO pretty… but he’s prettier with hair. He has glorious hair. I wish he would stop doing crap to it, like dyeing it or shaving it. Zayn and his not-great shaved head cover the latest issue of GQ. He’s presumably doing this interview to promote his music, but after reading the first chunk of the interview, he seems to mostly be doing this to show the world that he truly is a cool guy. That’s how this GQ piece reads: profile of a Cool Guy. If the Cool Girl is an impossible standard, then so is the Cool Guy. The Cool Guy must smoke wherever he pleases. The Cool Guy must be chilled out about everything, a level of careful insouciance about everything from clothes to politics. The Cool Guy must have a beautiful girlfriend too. Yes, Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik are back together, GQ makes that clear. Anyway, you can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
He doesn’t want to be a star: “I don’t work well in group situations, with loads of people staring at me. And when you say ‘star’…everyone wants you to be this kind of character that owns a room or is overly arrogant or confident. I’m not that guy. So I don’t want to be a star.”
He depends on the paparazzi for his promotional needs: Instead of attending star studded events, Malik lets the paparazzi do the work for him. “That’s my promo. I come outside, they take photos,” he saids. “They stay outside and do all the work! You can get pissed off about it, and be like, ‘Yo this is a hindrance on my life.’ Or you can use it for your own benefit and be like, ‘Well, if they’re going to take the photos, then let them.’”
On his relationship with Gigi: “We’re adults. We don’t need to put a label on it, make it something for people’s expectations…I’m really thankful that I met her,” he says, with adoration. He thanks her for helping him with the anxieties of celebrity. “We go to the farm. We have horses [including one named Cool].” He’s all in on the Hadids, referring to matriarch Yolanda as “really f–king cool.” To him, Gigi’s hyper-organized, clear-headed, and positive. “She’s helped me to look at things from a positive angle…She doesn’t handle my finances yet. We’ll get to that eventually.”
Why he’s still smoking: “Couple of times I tried to quit. But I just like smoking cigs. Simple as that.”
Why he attended the Met Gala in 2016: “I did go, but I didn’t go there to be like, ‘Yo, take me serious.’ I was taking the piss! I went there as my favorite Mortal Kombat character, Jax. The Met Gala is not necessarily anything that I ever knew about or was about. But my [former] stylist…would say to me, ‘This is really good for you to do.’ And no matter how strong you are mentally, you can always be swayed to do certain things. Now, it’s not something I would go to. I’d rather be sitting at my house, doing something productive, than dressing up in really expensive clothes and being photographed on a red carpet.… To do the self-indulgent Look at me, I’m amazing thing on the red carpet, it’s not me.”
One of the things that I’ll probably never understand about people who claim they don’t want to be looked at or noticed is… why did you get into your industry then? I don’t like to be watched or noticed either, which is why blogging suits me very well. But Zayn actually auditioned to be on The X Factor, and he clearly wanted to be a singer and pop star. But whatever – I don’t blame the guy for having anxiety issues, I just wish his cool detachment felt less performative, you know? As for the rest of it… I hate to admit this (over and over), but I would have been so into him if I was 13-15. I would have been so into Zayn AND Harry Styles.
Photos courtesy of Sebastian Mader for GQ, sent from promotional GQ email.
He’s full of it and I don’t know why people buy into his shtick. Somebody should ask him why he was mumble whispering to Gigi to kiss him when on the MET gala carpet.
He’s famous because he’s basically a model and Part of a celeb couple. His music is actually ok but it’s attached to a non-interesting ‘artist’ and his MVs are a joke with his bad acting and mumble lipsynch. He’s lucky he’s pretty and that’s it
Zayn makes me roll my eyes so hard (so does Harry Styles but another story for another day). I used to love him quite a bit, but in recent years he’s just trying too hard to be “cool”, which this article mentions a million times over. He has no personality anymore.
I love that he basically mocked Gigi’s entire existence in that last paragraph.
Hhhmmm. Yeah I guess you can say he did, but DOES Gigi really think to herself “Look at me, I’m amazing,” when she’s on the red carpet or being photographed for a magazine cover? If she thinks like him, and says “modeling is my job, and that’s it.” Then they are on the same page, and therefore he is not mocking her.
To be fair he opted out of the X factor after the 1st round due to anxiety and was coaxed back by Simon. ( I know way to much about this dude!)
I like that he was public about his anxiety as at the time it was very off brand and in the middle of his launch as solo artist.
Real life is not black and white, this or that. You can have a passion for making music or singing and still hate being very visible. I’m sure every job has parts that people struggle with even if it’s their absolute dream.
I’m glad he’s open about his anxiety instead of that typical American “oh everything’s great all the time i’m living the dream” thing.
Eh I get the anxiety thing because I have it too buy he just seems to be an exhausting person to be around. It’s like he’s that dude that’s always trying to prove how cooler than everyone else he is and telling people how much pot he smokes.
I actually kinda liked him but then he came up with that bs about teenage girls and how his music was better cause it was “real music” so now it’s no thank you for me.
Also did he went to Gigi for modeling tips? He’s doing the same dead eye/open mouth thing she does
His enunciation is HORRIBLE–worse than Ariana Grande. I can barely understand anything that he sings.
I understand him very well and I’m not even a native speaker.
He’s so pretty. I’m not in the 1D demographic and think he mostly sounds like a douche, but I like his music, especially the little bits in Urdu, and he’s just gorgeous. Harry is cute, but Zayn. I wish him well. Also, times 100 on the hair, dude.
Is it just me, or do those pics make him look like Sam Smith?
I use to think he was cute but the whole I’m sexy with my mouth open thing he does is getting on my nerves. Close your mouth, zayn.
Glad I’m not the only one who finds those poses stupid. “Look at me, I’m about to drool all over myself!”
Harry does it for me. Great attitude, humble, works hard, and appreciates his luck. Not to mention the smile. Zayn has a great voice but not much else.
I enjoy his singing. I dont care about the rest.
Well there is something to be said about being gifted and wanting your talent to do more of the talking,than you..So I completely get it..Anxiety & all..