Zayn Malik on Leaving One Direction: 'I'm Happy About the Decision I Made'

Zayn Malik is getting candid in a brand new interview from Elvis Duran‘s The Z100 Morning Show.

The 23-year-old singer opened up about his debut solo single “Pillowtalk,” leaving One Direction, and more. Check it:

On releasing his solo music: “Yeah, exciting times! I’ve been working on it for a long time now so even starting everything is really exciting this week.”

On deciding to leave the group: “I feel good! I feel like that’s the key thing in life, you know regardless of whatever it is that you do. You have to always remain true to yourself and do whatever makes you happy because at the end of the day, you answer to yourself so it’s a good place to be in. I’m happy about the decision I made.”

On his first single: “It is about sex, there is obviously sex in a relationship. It’s not the whole incentive of the song though, the actual intent of the song is even though you have great times in a relationship, you have really bad times as well but that’s what makes it worth while because you learn things and you go through experiences that bring you closer together. That’s the actual intent of the song. Obviously you have sex and sometimes you fight during the relationship, so I did mention that in the song but yeah, it’s not solely about sex.”