Zayn Malik won the New Artist of the Year award at the AMAs last night. In his speech, he made the requisite One Direction joke and thanked his fans and his parents for their support. But we were just trying to figure out what was going on with his new haircut, which was a cross between an edgy low fade and a classic taper cut. And by “cross” we mean it was literally one half fade, one half taper. The way it came together in the back was...creative.

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 20: Singer Zayn Malik accepts New Artist of the Year onstage during the 2016 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on November 20, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)Getty Images

Malik loves to get weird with his hairstyles (and his hair seems to grow like a weed, which probably helps him not overthink his decisions), but this was out there even by his standards. We get that nothing says “new artist” like an asymmetrical baby rattail, but we’re looking forward to the point when Malik is going for music-legend vibes. Because either of those haircuts would have been fantastic on its own. It’s a shame they had to share the stage.

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