Oh, what could have been.
Last summer Tyler, the Creator decided to put his own spin on singer Zayn Malik’s breakout “Pillow Talk” solo single. The result was a funky and much-appreciated remix of the pop track, and it also came with a few relevations in tow. After uploading it, fans naturally questioned Tyler on the possibility of a collaboration between the two artists, a notion that first came into thought after Tyler propositioned the former member of One Direction back in 2015, tweeting at Zayn, “HI @zaynmalik. I HAVE BEAUTIFUL INSTRUMENTALS AND YOU HAVE A VOICE LETS FIGURE THIS OUT MY GUY . EPIC ALBUM CUTS THO NO RADIO.”
Malik responded to the tweet some hours later, writing out , “sounds sick BRO let do some shit.” So, when Tyler dropped that remix, it seemed the stars had finally aligned and that we were getting a snippet of what was to come. However, the hope was soon crushed after the rapper responded to a fan’s prompt on Twitter, informing us that the collab hadn’t come to fruition after all because Zayn “flaked on studio sessions twice.”
Fast forward to a year and some change later, Tyler has now given us more detail into the collaboration that never happened, after retreating to his preffered medium of choice to let us all know that he originally crafted the track “See You Again,” found on his most recent Flower Boy project, for Zayn. Alluding to the same instance of Zayn failing to show up for studio time twice, he stated that he decided to keep the cut for himself. “Worked out actually,” he wrote.
While dwelling on what could have been is nice and all, it’s important to note that “See You Again” is a solid offering on the Flower Boy tracklisting where Tyler’s experimental talents shine through. Hopefully, we’ll be able to see the fruits of an actual Tyler-Zayn link up sometime in the future, but if Tyler doesn’t give the UK-born singer another chance, we don’t blame him.
