Music.Entertainment.Made For You.As Told By Me.: One Direction

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Zayn Malik's Exit from One Direction and Why It Needed to Happen PLUS New Solo with Naughty Boy

It's the day no Directioner dared to think about. The day a member of One Direction decided to leave. Luckily for heartbroken Directioners everywhere, the band is continuing as a 4-piece. Let's have a round up of Zayn Malik's painful decision...

Zayn Malik and Lauren Richardson
pictured on his trip to Thailand

Last week, Zayn Malik quit the biggest boyband in the world. To the normal person this seems like a terrible decision. Right? The fame, the fortune. Who would want to give that up? Zayn's statement came weeks after he was pictured with his arm around Lauren Richardson on a trip in Thailand. This was around the same time his fiancée, Little Mix's Perrie Edwards, was pictured sans engagement ring. Zayn later made a statement to his fans saying "I'm sorry for what it looks like" while Perrie Edwards was reported saying her engagement ring was just at the cleaners. Um....? Basically all of this seemed a bit suspect to fans of the band.

It wasn't too long after that Malik announced he was stepping away from the band's world tour due to stress to spend some time with family back in the UK. If that wasn't enough, Malik soon announced his departure from the band altogether. He stated: "My life with One Direction has been more than I could ever have imagined. But, after five years, I feel like it is now the right time for me to leave the band. I'd like to apologize to the fans if I've let anyone down, but I have to do what feels right in my heart." For most fans this decision came out of nowhere and immediately caused social media backfire along with an enormous amount of vines of fans crying, yelling, or just being generally confused.

One Direction's first performance as
a quartet last Wednesday in Jakarta

He was cited saying he just wants to be a "normal 22-year old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight." Unfortunately for Zayn, once in the One Direction spotlight, always in the One Direction spotlight. The band announced their respect for Zayn's decision and assured fans they would continue on as a 4-piece for the rest of their world tour as well as into the recording of their fifth album. Some fans doubt this is possible but others are holding on to any glimmer of hope that One Direction will still go on strong.

Zayn Malik and fiancée
Perrie Edwards

As for Zayn's career, this is possibly the best thing he could have done considering the situation. It isn't that surprising for someone to become burnt out. Four tours and 5 albums in 5 years along with daily media appearances are a lot for one person to handle. Zayn has always been a ridiculously talented singer but among the stress and stigma that is generally associated with One Direction, separating his name from the band might have been a big step for his career. Before this, no one apart from 1D fans even knew Malik's name. He was generally viewed as the brooding one, the bad boy, or simply "not Harry Styles."

Let's face it, apart from the views of dazed fangirls, One Direction is NOT in their prime. I would argue they were in their prime around late 2011/early 2012 even before they became part of a US preteen pop franchise. After One Direction lost the X Factor, fans waited quite a long time for their first single. It was a slow start that took off with sudden explosive momentum. I predict that the new 4-piece 1D is going to have to make some major adjustments to their musical sound. Despite some opinions, Zayn Malik was a very integral part of One Direction and his departure is going to affect them in more ways than one.

A picture of Zayn Malik and
Naughty Boy that caused
outrage among One Direction fans

If Zayn's leaving wasn't causing enough controversy, he apparently has a new solo track. A week after Malik's departure from One Direction, songwriter and producer, Naughty Boy, tweeted out a soundcloud link to Zayn's new track. This sent some fans into a fit of anger as they felt Zayn was betraying One Direction and had already gotten over the separation. Discontent was also explicitly expressed towards Naughty Boy as most thought his releasing of the song was insensitive. It even sparked a bit of a Twitter feud between Naughty Boy and Louis Tomlinson, a remaining member of One Direction. The song has been recently removed.

Zayn and Perrie were spotted today boarding a jet along with Zayn's mother and sisters. Their relationship seems to be intact even though many fans have been blaming Perrie for Zayn's decision to leave.

What do you think of all of this Zayn Malik drama? Did he make the right decision? What about that new solo track? Comment!

ZAYN MALIK'S EXIT FROM ONE DIRECTION~AS TOLD BY MADS
Thanks for reading!

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Pick of the Week--THE NEXT BIG THING: 5 Seconds of Summer

This Pick of the Week is a bit different from others because instead of telling you about an artist you should know about, I'm going to tell you about an artist that EVERYONE knows about. After coming across them back in 2012, I've been so excited to see how far they have come in just a few short years. If you haven't heard of these guys, you definitely will in 2014. This band has been slowly conquering the music world and are on the fast track to becoming the next big thing, that is, if they aren't already…

5 Seconds of Summer: (from left) Michael Clifford,
Calum Hood, Luke Hemmings, Ashton Irwin

5 Seconds of Summer is a Sydney based pop/rock band composed of Ashton Irwin, Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford, and Calum Hood. 5SOS was officially formed back in 2011 with the addition of Irwin as the band's drummer. Before Ashton's entrance, Michael, Calum, and Luke posted covers of songs on Youtube such as "I Miss You" by Blink-182 and "Next To You" by Justin Bieber and Chris Brown. The covers continued as the three-piece band became a four-piece and posted their own renditions of artists like Wheatus and All Time Low.

In May of 2012, 5SOS posted an acoustic video for their original song, "Gotta Get Out." This song was later featured on their first EP: Unplugged. The release of their EP followed shortly after their first headlining tour hitting Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. The band was then quickly back on the road touring Australia on their Twenty Twelve Tour. In December 2012, 5 Seconds of Summer released their debut studio EP, Somewhere New. The EP featured fan favorites like "Gotta Get Out" and "Out Of My Limit" as well as two additional tracks: "Unpredictable" and "Beside You."

2013 was a HUGE year for 5 Seconds of Summer with the release of their single, "Heartbreak Girl." This song was a quick hit among their rapidly growing fanbase. One Direction caught wind of this sudden 5SOS craze and reached out to the band offering them a spot as the opening act of their Take Me Home World Tour. This helped launch 5SOS even further into the professional music world and gained them even more fans who were beyond thrilled when the music video for their song "Try Hard" was released. Since last year, 5 Seconds of Summer has released their latest worldwide single, "She Looks So Perfect," as well as their brand new She Looks So Perfect EP. They've even launched their own independent record label, Hi Or Hey Records, in partnership with Capitol Records. With their latest single hitting #2 in the US charts, 5SOS are gearing up to be the next big thing especially with their announcement that they will once again be opening for One Direction later this year in the UK, Europe, and the US on 1D's Where We Are Tour.

5SOS has been hard at work touring all over the world and writing new songs that are bound to be hits. The band will be returning home to go on an Australian tour in May but will soon be back in the states on their first US headlining tour. You can check out the dates for these two tours here. There is so much in store for 5 Seconds of Summer in the coming months and I strongly encourage you to go see them if they come to a city near you. They are fantastic, naturally-talented performers who have nothing but a great time onstage. Check out their music on iTunes and see for yourself why they are the next big thing!

5SOS' latest single "She Looks So Perfect"!