Zayn Malik just debuted a new ‘do… And fans are torn.
The One Direction alum took to Instagram early Thursday morning to show off a pic with producer and recording engineer Daniel Zaidenstadt, which he affectionately captioned, “te amo.” Aside from the hype for his new music tease, the Pillowtalk singer’s followers have been quite vocal online about one aspect of the photo specifically: his hair.
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If you have yet to see it, the 30-year-old — doing a faux modeling pose in a matching shirt with the record producer — debuted a new look: cornrows. See for yourself (below):
Daniel also shared a pic on his own page, which you can see (below):
Fans immediately began pressing on social media, as cornrows have been a signature hairstyle in the Black community for centuries — yet Zayn, who is of Pakistani and British descent, obviously didn’t hold back from adopting the look for himself.
Twitter, of course, was the main platform where users called him out for “cultural appropriation”:
“@zaynmalik TAKE THOSE CORNROWS OFF YA SCALP”
“Now I KNOWWWW that ain’t Zayn w some cornrows”
“im not even mad about the cultural appropriation, im mad that it doesn’t even look good”
“zayn take out those god damn [sic] cornrows”
“waking up to zayn malik in cornrows is not ok”
“pookie i love u but take those cornrows off asap”
However, other users were far more accepting of the hairstyle — and Zayn’s new muscular frame:
“buff, hot and healthy”
“zayn looks good with the cornrows sorry y’all but I gotta stick beside him and tell the truth”
“The cornrows!!! He actually posted a pic of himself! We can see his face. God it’s been too long!”
This isn’t the first time the iT’s YoU singer has tried out the look, as he posed for a pic with ex-girlfriend and baby momma Gigi Hadid in 2017 with a very similar style — and faced similar backlash! See (below):
One IG commenter, however, is just focused on how Selena Gomez, who has been rumored to be dating the You & I singer, “won.” LOLz!
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Last month, the two were spotted “making out” while on a romantic date at an NYC celeb hotspot by a restaurant server. See her full scoop (below):
As for how Gigi feels about Selena and Zayn’s second go ‘round, an insider revealed she “has no problem whatsoever” — as long as he “continues to be a good coparent.”
New hairdo, new music, new girlfriend?? Zayn is officially in his hot boy era — or problematic boy era. Both?? Thoughts, Perezcious readers? Do YOU approve of the ‘do? Let us know in the comments down below!
[Images via Zayn Malik/Instagram & Apple TV/YouTube]