The world's just waiting for the members of One Direction to branch out a bit and release a few solo albums but this might not have been what they were expecting: Producer Shahid "Naughty Boy" Khan suggests that Zayn Malik might be the first to try an album alone and that it might be hip-hop.
Naughty Boy was giving an interview to The Sun newspaper when he disclosed that he had gotten Malik to make a guest appearance on the producer's second studio LP, due out later this year.
"We're making music and having fun. This is just like a side gig and I don't think there's anything wrong with it," he said. "It's a good time for Zayn to showcase what he can really do. I don't think that is being fully exploited with the band because there are five people and it needs to be balanced out."
Last year Naughty Boy complimented Malik's ability as an emcee, and The Sun states that Simon Cowell—who still has a major role in members of One Direction's careers, as the group is signed to his Syco Records—has already given formal approval to a Zayn solo joint.
"I hear speculation all the time that they're going solo," Cowell told The Mirror. "My advice is they should stay together but still do things they want as a little bit on the side."
MTV suggests that a Naughty Boy guest spot would be a great jumping-off point for a solo jaunt, noting that Sam Smith somewhat got his break when he appeared on Boy's single "La La La."
Of course no one says that Malik has to go solo to explore the waters of hip-hop. The group confirmed as early as December that a fifth studio album is already being planned, following the continued success of 2014's Four, noting that they hoped to take it "somewhere else" in terms of style. Maybe that means hip-hop. Maybe that means black metal. Stay tuned.
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