London, Nov 20 (UNI) Zayn Malik has admitted that his latest musical partnership with Blackpink vocalist Jisoo, has elevated him to “cool again” status in the eyes of his young daughter, Khai.
The singer, 32, dropped the joint single Eyes Closed with the K-pop star last month and during his debut as a BBC Radio 2 host, he explained why he instantly said yes to the project.
The reason, he admitted, was simple: “My daughter’s gonna think I’m cool again, so I’ll definitely do that.”
The singer shares five-year-old Khai with his former partner, US model Gigi Hadid, reports BBC.
It is not the first time Zayn has shared his love for the K-pop band. Over the summer, he posted a photo to his Instagram story of him holding his daughter in his arms while they attended a Blackpink concert, and wrote on the post “Me & Khai loved it”.
During his two-hour Radio 1 special, Zayn said he was keen to work with Jisoo as she is “killing it at the minute”.
“I’ve wavered a little bit from the pop sound myself, so to come back to it with the people who are basically owning that genre at the minute was an honour,” he said.
“If I can say thanks to Jisoo, I’m really happy with the way it turned out.”
Blackpink – comprising members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa – is one of the biggest K-pop girl bands in the world.
Across his two-hour Radio 1 broadcast, Malik paid homage to his long-standing influences, singling out Lauryn Hill and Eminem.
He recalled growing up in Bradford with a father who was “massively” devoted to The Notorious B.I.G., often playing his music loudly enough for the entire street to hear. “Rap music was a big influence in my younger years and that was definitely made more prominent by the fact that I was living in Bradford, for sure,” he said.
The singer’s music career began in 2010 as part of One Direction, the boy band formed on TV talent contest, The X Factor. He rose to stardom alongside the other band members – Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne.
Liam died in October 2024 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina.
After leaving One Direction in 2015, Malik launched a successful solo career, marked by his chart-topping debut album ‘Mind of Mine’ and three subsequent releases. The singer went on to release three more albums. The latest, Room Under The Stairs, peaked at number three in the charts last year.
