Zayn malik on friendship with liam payne in nme cover story

Zayn Malik has pulled a 180 since leaving One Direction one year ago this Friday – but as the singer explains in the new issue of _NME_, some things never change. “I’m still probably the

closest to Liam [Payne],” Malik, 23, tells the music magazine in his new cover story, available for free in the U.K. Thursday. “We talk on the phone.” With the dust surrounding Malik’s

departure settled – and the remaining four 1D members on an extended hiatus while pursuing their own solo projects – the “Pillowtalk” chart topper says Payne, 22, has been supportive of his

achievements. “He congratulated me on my single. Which was nice,” shares Malik. “I congratulated him on his Brit Award.” Overall, “It was a good chat. We hadn’t met in a long time so we want

to meet up,” explains Malik, who noted he hasn’t seen Payne since he quit the band last year. But relations aren’t so warm with the rest of the guys – Louis Tomlinson, 24, Harry Styles, 22,

and Niall Horan, 22. “I tried to have contact but nobody’s reached out,” says Malik, who has found a new companion in girlfriend Gigi Hadid, 20, in recent months. “So … whatever.” Read on

for even more of Malik’s perspective prior to the release of his new album _Mind of Mine_ (preorder here) on Friday. ON THE AFTERMATH OF LEAVING 1D: “You can be in the eye of it if you

choose to be. Or you can let it overwhelm you … See, I’ve kept a little bit of my sanity. I understand how the media works. Journos gotta earn their money. Paps have got to earn their

money.” ON HOW UNDERSTANDING FAME HELPED HIM AVOID ITS PITFALLS: “I think that’s why it came across as being mysterious or detached. I just didn’t want to get caught up in something that

wasn’t real. You can be the biggest band in the world for a certain time, but that ends.” ON WHETHER HE LEFT THE BAND TO AVOID IRRELEVANCY: “I’m not saying that. But if I did (laughs) then

f— me, I’ve got a great brain.” ON WHETHER HE WAS A GOOD KID GROWING UP: “I seemed to find myself in situations that weren’t necessarily the best situations. Getting wound up by stuff people

said … I wasn’t sensitive … I hate to get into it because it’s not something that affects my brain any more. There was a kind of racial confusion with me. They didn’t really know where to

put me. I confused arrogance with ignorance. Certain people don’t want to know certain things and I had to realize I couldn’t teach them.”