Zayn Malik is smoldering and surrounded by smoke on the brand new #Sexy summer issue #Sexy of Paper magazine, on newsstands June 21.

Here’s what the 23-year-old “Pillowtalk” performer had to share with the mag:

On not being allowed to have a beard in One Direction: “Facial hair was a weird thing. I think it’s ’cause I just looked old. And they didn’t like that. [And] I always wanted a beard! I think every dude does when they’re young. Seeing Al Pacino in Carlito’s Way — I needed the goatee after that. I was like, ‘I wanna be Al Pacino.’ I’ve always been obsessed with that, and I had to shave it off. I used to get a bit sad.”

On Gigi Hadid: “I’ve always said it and I still stand by it: I find intelligence attractive. When I learn something from somebody and they teach me something, that’s an attractive thing for me. Obviously, I find physical appearance attractive as well, but it’s definitely squared more towards a personality as I’ve gotten older, because you can’t have a long-term relationship unless you get on with the person. It doesn’t matter really about the exterior.”

On his social life: “I don’t really enjoy going out too much and partying. I like to have my own time and be at home, and I kind of need a partner with me to do that. I just like the security of that. It feels good to me. It feels right. We’ll see each other tonight and probably watch a film. Netflix and chill. Yeah, we do that a lot.”

• Photohoots

If, like me, you weren’t familiar with the name Zayn Malik, odds are that changed on March 25, 2015. It was on this fateful day the 22-year-old singer announced his permanent departure from the titanic boyband One Direction. To say the internet was aghast at the news would be like saying Mount Everest is tall: a staggering understatement, the dimension and magnitude of which is nearly impossible to fathom – much like Malik’s 19 million followers on Twitter, or the 11.3 million on Instagram, or the 515 million-plus views (and counting) racked up by his debut solo music video “PILLOWTALK”. The crying emoji had never gotten so much play. Social media became a variegated trauma-rama of caps-locked teenage heartbreak.

“I AM LITERALLY SOBBING ZAYN WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS COME BACK PLEASE IT WILL NEVER EVER BE THE SAME”, tweeted someone named Kayla.

“VANESSA JUST CALLED ME CRYING IN SCHOOL,” screamed a citizen’s report from a girl called Dani. “SHES (sic) IN A BATHROOM STALL CRYING ABOUT HOW ZAYN LEFT SHE’S CALLING HER MOM TO PICK HER UP I FEEL BAD.”

Then there were the memes: Kim Kardashian’s ugly-cry face empress among them, accompanied by a chorus of girls sobbing alone in their bedrooms, surreptitiously filmed for Vine videos by siblings and parents. #AlwaysInOurHeartsZaynMalik was the number-one trending topic for a solid 24 hours, while a much more disturbing hashtag, #cut4zayn, heralded a trend of girls carving Malik’s name into their forearms with razorblades (much of the carnage turned out to be hoaxes, many of them embarrassingly rendered in ketchup, no less). It was even reported that law firms specialising in workplace rights were flooded with helpline calls asking for advice on requesting paid compassionate leave.

“Everybody was just crying,” recalls Malik, wincing and suppressing a laugh. “Yeah… Sorry about that.”

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• News & Rumors

Zayn takes the cover of Dazed magazine’s Summer 2016 issue, which hits newsstands on Thursday (June 16).

Here’s what the 23-year-old “Pillowtalk” singer had to share with the mag:

On getting Taylor Swift’s approval on his album Mind of Mine: “At Gigi [Hadid]’s house we briefly spoke and she told me she really enjoyed the album. It was nice to get some feedback. She said she thought I was cool and I kind of blushed a bit and didn’t know how to take it.”

On leaving One Direction: “I know that musicians are seen as one-sided people a lot of the time, but we do have other elements to us as well. I didn’t feel good. Do you know what I mean?… You need to be able to express what it is that you are. I’m free at last.”

On his love of writing: “I have always liked language and the way you can say a certain thing in a certain way and it can be perceived so differently by whoever is listening, because of whatever time they are at in their life.”

• Photohoots

You can read the statement below:

• News & Rumors

Zayn and Gigi were spotted leaving her apartment in New York City on Friday (June 10).

• Candids

Zayn attends the 7th Annual amfAR Inspiration Gala at Skylight at Moynihan Station on June 9, 2016 in New York City.

• Events

Zayn was spotted on a hike in Malibu with a group of friends and outside his hous in Bel Air few days ago.

• Candids