Zayn Malik has covered Rae Sremmurd's No Type and it's a solid 5 out of 10

Ex-One Direction member looks to be heading down a more R&B/Hip Hop route

(Getty/Rae Sremmurd)

Zayn Malik is clearly trying to get away from the 'gonna love you forever girl yeah' indie pop of One Direction with his forthcoming solo career, posting a cover of trap duo Rae Sremmurd's hit 'No Type'.

A snippet of the song could be heard in the background of a Vine posted a few months ago and now the full version is here in high quality, with a rep confirming to Billboard that it is indeed Zayn singing on the track.

He gives a sort of Weeknd-lite version of the track's hook, while Mic Righteous features on it with a dodgy verse in which he references Dot Cotton that really doesn't match the originals by Rae Sremmurd, whom Malik hasn't given so much as a hat tip to on Twitter.

The top comment on a YouTube upload of the song is currently 'Am I the only one who hears how terrible these vocals are?', with 271 upvotes.

This slow 'leaking' of snippets and covers suggest Malik is going to try and forge a music career separate from One Direction, and the world can probably expect a debut single later this year.

Update: Malik's collaborator Naughty Boy has said this version isn't the 'real one', and it's p*ssed off MIC Righteous who thinks this means his verse is going to be cut:

@christophhooton