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Zayn Malik announced that he is off to make "real music" as he signed a solo record contract, months after leaving One Direction.
The singer made a shock departure from the band earlier this year to go and be a "normal 22-year-old", leaving hordes of devastated fans in his wake. Speculation about solo projects followed and on Wednesday night Malik released a picture of him signing his new contract with RCA, joining the likes of Alicia Keys, Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake and Kelly Clarkson who are already signed to the label.
In a separate tweet, Malik wrote: "I guess I never explained why I left, it was for this moment to be given the opportunity to show you who i really am! #realmusic #RCA !!" To make his point even clearer, he then tweeted “#REALMUSIC”.
The news left some One Directioners feeling they had been lied to, while others were not impressed by his "real music" dig. Unsurprisingly, the angry backlash soon grew on Twitter.
Simon Cowell, who manages One Direction on his Syco label, congratulated Malik on his new deal, tweeting: "We have been working on this for a while and I am pleased to say congratulations to Zayn Malik on signing with RCARecords.
In pictures: Zayn Malik
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"I believe they are the perfect label for Zayn Malik's solo career and I am sure whatever they release together will be special."
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