Zayn Malik Signs With RCA, Says He Left One Direction to Make 'Real Music'

Okay, let's just take a collective deep breath while we sort through all of this. Zayn Malik tweeted that he has signed with RCA and also gave a little more explanation about why he quit One Direction.

Yes, we're still processing what happened on Twitter today.

Here's the rundown of Zayn's tweets.

After tweeting, "These streets will make you feel brand new" earlier in the day, he returned to Twitter to write: "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 !!"

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 !!

- zaynmalik (@zaynmalik) July 29, 2015

Real music? Um. Yeah. We're totally still working through whether he's throwing shade at his career with One Direction or is just excited to show what else he can do outside of a boy band.

He followed that up with a pic of himself signing the deal (congrats!) and a tweet with the hashtag #REALME.

Did we never know the real Zayn? What was all that stuff about leaving the band to be a "normal 22-year-old" then?

So many thoughts are racing through our heads right now...

Zayn did retweet this assessment, so we have to believe that's what he means by 'real.'

You are stupid. Real music meaning real to him. Real because he has written and recorded it solely to what he likes.Real to himself like lol

- cerise (@zaynhealy) July 29, 2015

via Source