Malik stunned fans in March (15) when he quit the hugely successful boyband to live the life of a "normal" 22 year old, but it appears he is not ready to walk away from the spotlight just yet after sharing his latest news on Twitter on Wednesday (29Jul15).

He tweeted, "I guess I never explained why I left , it was for this moment to be given the opportunity to show you who i really am! #realmusic #RCA (sic)!!"

Malik, who had been signed to Simon Cowell's Syco Music as part of One Direction, then uploaded a black and white photo of himself putting pen to paper at the RCA offices.

Cowell himself sent his best wishes to the singer via Twitter, writing, "We have been working on this for a while and I am pleased to say congratulations to @Zaynmalik on signing with @RCARecords...

"I believe they are the perfect label for @ZaynMalik’s solo career and I am sure whatever they release together will be special."

The revelation emerges amid speculation Malik has teamed up with Grammy-winning producer Malay, who has worked with R&B artists like Alicia Keys, John Legend and Frank Ocean, to begin recording his debut solo album.

He is also said to have parted ways with One Direction's handlers at Modest! Management and joined Turn First Artists, the same firm looking after Ellie Goulding and Rita Ora, joining the roster of Iggy Azalea's manager, Sarah Stennett.

Fans of Malik have previously been given a taste of what to expect after British producer Naughty Boy shared demos of his work online, but his actions appeared to anger the former boyband star, who seemingly cut ties with his U.K. collaborator earlier this month (Jul15) by branding him a "fat joke" for exploiting their musical partnership and posting song clips without his permission.