--- ---  # Zayn Malik on Taylor Swift: 'I Think She Deserves Her Success'  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 11, 2017 2:43 PM UTC  Singer Zayn Malik attends the 2017 Billboard Power 100 Celebration at Cecconi's on February 9, 2017 in West Hollywood, California. Singer Zayn Malik attends the 2017 Billboard Power 100 Celebration at Cecconi's on February 9, 2017 in West Hollywood, California.Michael Tullberg—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 11, 2017 2:43 PM UTC Former One Direction member and perennial pop heartthrob Zayn Malik is notoriously guarded. But in an interview with [_The Fader_](http://www.thefader.com/2017/09/08/zayn-malik-interview-dusk-till-dawn) following the release of his new single with Sia [“Dusk Till Dawn,”](http://time.com/4932588/5-songs-you-need-to-listen-to-this-week-24/item/dusk-till-dawn-zayn-feat-sia/) he did offer up a positive review of fellow pop star [Taylor Swift](http://time.com/4933385/game-of-thrones-sings-taylor-swift/), with whom he collaborated on the chart-topping single [“I Don’t Wanna Live Forever”](http://time.com/4596550/5-songs-you-need-to-listen-to-this-week-2/item/i-dont-wanna-live-forever-zayn-taylor-swift/) in late 2016. “I rate her as an artist, I think she’s cool, I think she’s successful, and I think she deserves her success because she’s worked hard,” Malik said about Swift. “That’s just how I look at it. I did a song with her, it was fun, she was professional.” Malik also noted that Swift is more than just a one-off collaborator and professional contact: his girlfriend, Gigi Hadid, is famously part of Swift’s squad. “She gets on with my girlfriend, they’re good friends,” he noted. “I don’t have a bad word to say about her. She’s cool.” (He did not comment on her [most recent music.](http://time.com/4917868/taylor-swift-video-reactions/)) In general, Malik seems thoroughly nonplussed by media attention and the hullabaloo around both his own activities or those of other celebrities in the pop sphere. “I don’t pay too much attention to what people even say about _me_. I just tend to take it for what it is when I meet them people in real life and have a conversation with them. If they’re cool with me, then I base my relationship on that,” he said. He also teased an upcoming album to follow debut work [_Mind of Mine_](http://time.com/4241922/march-new-music-albums-songs/item/zayn-mind-of-mine/), with a release date yet to be set. Zayn Malik Talks About Working With on Taylor Swift ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4935845/zayn-malik-on-taylor-swift/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4935845/zayn-malik-on-taylor-swift/"},"headline":"Zayn Malik on Taylor Swift: 'I Think She Deserves Her Success'","datePublished":"2017-09-11T14:43:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:47:07.352Z","description":"Reflecting on their collaboration for \"I Don't Wanna Live Forever,\" the singer shared a positive review of his experience with Swift.","url":"https://time.com/4935845/zayn-malik-on-taylor-swift/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","Taylor Swift"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0b75ffb82617729/6988dd2f656a3f2604bd19f1/zayn-malik.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0b75ffb82617729/6988dd2f656a3f2604bd19f1/zayn-malik.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2017 Billboard Power 100 - Arrivals","caption":"2017 Billboard Power 100 - Arrivals","creditText":"Michael Tullberg—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4935845/zayn-malik-on-taylor-swift/","name":"Zayn Malik on Taylor Swift: 'I Think She Deserves Her Success'"}}]}] ```