Zayn Malik Tackles Racism He Faced During One Direction Days in New Song Snippet

Zayn Malik appears to confront the racism he faced while a member of One Direction in a teaser for a new song, ostensibly titled “Fuchsia Sea.”

Malik shared a snippet of the song on Instagram over the weekend, promising the full track would be “coming soon.” Following the mix of soft rock, soul, and country on his 2024 album, Room Under the Stairs, the “Fuchsia Sea” clip finds Zayn pivoting to pensive hip-hop, as he rhymes casually over a punchy piano beat. (It’s worth noting that Room Under the Stairs also featured a song called “Fuchsia Sea.”)

While Zayn covers a lot of ground in the clip that he shared, the line that jumps out most comes near the end of the first verse, and seems to be a very specific nod to his time in One Direction. “I’m a convert to the concert/And I did that for inflation/’Cause I worked hard in a white band/And they still laughed at the Asian,” he says.

The son of a Pakistani Muslim father and an English mother of Irish descent, Zayn has spoken before about facing racism and bigotry, especially when he was growing up in Bradford, England. While in One Direction, he occasionally spoke about being the target of online harassment, like in a 2012 interview when he said, “Nasty things [were said] like I’m a terrorist, and this and that. How can you justify that? How can you call me that and get away with it?”

Zayn has yet to share any additional details about “Fuchsia Sea,” like when the full song will be release, or whether it’s a one-off track or the first offering from his next project. 

Earlier this year, Zayn completed his Stairway to the Sky Tour in support of Room Under the Stairs. At his final two shows in Mexico City, Zayn performed One Direction’s “Night Changes” for the first time in 10 years. The performances happened to coincide with the anniversary of his departure of the group, and also poignantly came several months after the death of his former bandmate, Liam Payne.

From Rolling Stone US.