Zayn Malik talks about younger Usher after Diddy controversy

While Usher’s connection to controversial rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs has recently drawn criticism, Zayn Malik has only positive things to say about the R&B star.

In a recent episode of Track Star Show, the former One Direction star identified Usher’s hit Climax during one segment.

When asked about the singer, the Dusk Till Dawn hitmaker responded warmly, “I’ve been into Usher since I was a kid, man.”

Reflecting on the artist’s early years, he added, “Early Usher, when he was a teenager, that kind of music is kind of missing in today’s world, I feel like.”

“It’s gone a lot more like this now. It’s more like an overproduced kind of sound,” the 33-year-old shared.

Zayn’s praise for the Super Bowl LVIII halftime performer’s early music comes just days after the latter made headlines for defending the Harlem-born rapper's legacy despite his controversial past and legal troubles for which the music mogul is currently serving a 50-month sentence.

In a Forbes interview, the Yeah! singer described Diddy as “misrepresented” and a “hard teacher” who offered valuable business lessons.

He argued that his contributions to music and Black entrepreneurship should not be erased despite his criminal convictions.

“I don’t have anything negative to say about Sean Combs because my experience was not what the world has seen and how he’s been… misrepresented,” the Grammy winner said.

While defending the Bad Boy Records founder the Good Good singer also acknowledged that his time at “Puffy Flavor Camp” at age 13 was “wild” and included witnessing “curious” things.

He previously joked in a 2024 interview that he would not send his own children to the same environment.

For the unversed, Usher’s association with Diddy, 56, dates back to the early 1990s, when he moved to New York as a teenager to live with the music mogul for mentorship and career development.

Notably, the 47-year-old also played a role in introducing Justin Bieber to the music mogul early in his career.