On Wednesday night, Zayn Malik gave his first-ever solo television performance since splitting from One Direction. The 23-year-old singer took the stage on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon to perform a new single off his yet-to-be released album, Mind of Mine.
The single, titled "It's You," not only differs from the previously released "Pillowtalk" in style, but also in substance. "Pillowtalk" is very clearly about his current girlfriend, Gigi Hadid. To make that perfectly clear, the video even features multiple make-out sessions between Hadid and Malik.
But last night was all about another girl from Malik's love life.
"It's You" harkens back to Perrie Edwards, Malik's ex-girlfriend from his One Direction days. When asked on Beats 1 radio whether the song was about Edwards, Malik replied, "I just felt like I needed to put myself out there on that just because it was a form of therapy for me and it did help get me through some shit." The first verse of the ballad refers to the couple's breakup.
"She got, she got, she got / Her own reason for talking to me / She don't, she don't, she don't / Give a fuck about what I need / And I can't tell you why, because my brain can't equate it / Tell me your lies, because I just can't face it."
The couple got engaged in August 2013, before ending their relationship two years later in August 2015. Shortly after, Malik was rumoured to be dating Hadid, and the two have been increasingly more public about their relationship. Edwards and her group, Little Mix, also made their own dig at Malik with one of their songs, "Hair." In an interview about the song, Edwards told a radio host that Malik had been a "bell-end."
Watch Malik's full performance, below.