Zayn Malik’s new song suggests One Direction era wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows
Former One Direction band member Zayn Malik teased the lyrics from a new song over the weekend, sharing a snippet on his Instagram, which he promised is “coming soon.” The singer-songwriter is releasing a remix of his Room Under the Stairs track, ‘Fuchsia Sea’, featuring a new verse. And it wasn’t long before fans honed in on a telling line…
In the lyrics, Malik opened up about his experience as the only non-white member of the popular boy band. Malik raps: “Got my back against the wall so much they think I got a brick fascination / Do you remember every conversation? / ’Cause I have been conscious of every connotation / And while they concentrate on their elevation, I’ve got a round trip to the constellation / 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 / Left a blue mark on a white flag, then used blood for the painting.”
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The original track outlined his resilience following personal struggles, with these new lyrics seemingly adding to that narrative and the emotions that inspired the original version.
Zayn Malik experienced cyberbullying because of his race
The ‘Pillowtalk’ singer, who is of Pakistani, English, and Irish descent and grew up in Bradford, has previously alluded to the racism he experienced while in One Direction, in which he was the only person of colour (POC) alongside bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and the late Liam Payne.
In a 2012 interview with The Sun, Malik spoke about his experience of being targeted by cyberbullies while he was part of One Direction, who attacked him because of his race.
Malik 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? I thought we’d moved forward. If that was said to me on the street or if someone said it to me to my face or whatever, then something could be done about it.”
Zayn Malik’s exit from One Direction
Zayn Malik left One Direction in 2015 to take some time out of the spotlight and be a “normal 22-year-old,” the announcement on the band’s Facebook page said, but he soon returned to music, releasing his debut solo album, Mind of Mine, later that year.
He later admitted to Alex Cooper, host of the Call Her Daddy podcast, that he “completely selfishly” wanted to be the “first person to go and make my own record.”
When Malik was interviewed for the podcast in 2023, he explained: “I jumped the gun, and when it comes to my music, I’m serious and competitive, and I wanted to be the first to do that. I’m a passive dude, but when it comes to my music and my business, I’m serious about it and I’m competitive, so I wanted to be the first to go and do my own thing. That was the reason.”
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Zayn Malik was a victim of racist attacks
During his time in the band, Zayn Malik was a victim of racist attacks. In 2013, American rapper Rucka Rucka Ali released a horrifying track called ‘Zayn Did 9/11’. That same year, One Direction were being interviewed by controversial TV personality Piers Morgan when he persistently questioned Malik about getting a gun tattoo, which Malik insisted was a water gun.
@arscripted thats just messed up in my opinion #zaynmalik #zayn #fyp
♬ I Bet on Losing Dogs - Mitski
In 2015, talk show host Bill Maher made a disgusting ‘joke’ comparing Malik to the 2013 Boston marathon bomber.
Another interview clip shows Malik being questioned about how his religion and ethnic origin have influenced his career, and if he speaks Arabic. Other members of the band were never asked such questions.
@icaruszayn poor zayn. imagine being put on the spot, forced to talk about religion (a private matter!) in interviews, forced to constantly justify yourself. they gave him sm shit just for existing. that interviewer knew what she was doing asking him that especially at that time. those years were so difficult for him, there were literally signs being held up at concerts calling him a terr0rist. remember when somebody made a song on spotify named “zayn did 9/11”? or that time in the news where they said that zayn did the boston marathon b0mbing? and that’s just the tip of iceberg. racism is so vile, harmful, abominable, sickening, evil, just disgusting. #zaynmalik
♬ original sound - 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙯𝙖𝙮𝙣 🍉
On X, users are also bringing up times when Malik experienced racism. Heartweirdo writes: “Zayn was literally branded a ter*orist at 17. He tweeted a simple Arabic prayer and got called a jihadi. He posted ‘Eid Mubarak’ and white fans told him to stop pushing Islam. He was constantly exoticised, only praised when he looked ‘less brown,’ mocked when he looked ‘too Muslim.’”
Zayn was literally branded a ter*orist at 17. He twted a simple Arabic prayer & got called a jihadi. He posted “Eid Mubarak” & white fans told him to stop pushing Islam. He was constantly exoticized only praised when he looked “less brown,” mocked when he looked “too Muslim.”… https://t.co/hQKOoofUTU
— hurrab🍁 (@heartweirdo) July 5, 2025
Another user, 90sbrutalia, says: “I’m so proud of Zayn for publicly acknowledging the racism/islamophobia he’s faced, specifically from what must’ve been an extremely isolating experience as the ONLY poc in a white band full of unsupportive bandmates who never defended him.”
i’m soo proud of zayn for publicly acknowledging the racism/islamophobia he’s faced specifically from what must’ve been an extremely isolating experience as the ONLY poc in a white band full of unsupportive bandmates who never defended him
— mari ࣪ ִֶָ☾. (@90sbrutalia) July 5, 2025
The response to the teaser has been one of support for Malik speaking out, and of excitement at a potential era of new music. But so far, the other One Direction members remain silent on Zayn’s claims.
