“Can’t believe YG really kept Jisoo’s vocals” - SONG OF THE YEAR as BLACKPINK’s idol & Zayn Malik’s Eyes Closed sparks fan defense amid vocal backlash

Jisoo of BLACKPINK and Zayn Malik have released their eagerly awaited collaboration. On October 10, 2025, their song Eyes Closed dropped, marking the first time the K-pop idol and the former One Direction member have teamed up. The video follows both artists as they float inside a futuristic spacecraft with metallic hallways.

They eventually meet in mid-orbit as the melody rises. The British singer arrives wearing a leather jacket over an all-black ensemble. Jisoo, meanwhile, stuns a black minidress. Before its debut, though, the release faced backlash online over the South Korean artist's vocals. Soon after, her supporters flooded platforms to defend her after the track went live.

"I mean..Can’t believe YG really kept Jisoo’s vocals from us all these years," an X user commented.

Fans keep calling out YG, saying the label never let her reach her full potential.

Hashtags like #SONGOFTHEYEAR trended shortly.

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More about BLACKPINK's Jisoo & Zayn's long-teased duet Eyes Closed

Eyes Closed (Image via X/@officialBLISSOO)

BLACKPINK’s Jisoo and UK singer Zayn Malik collab has been dropped via Blissoo and Warner Records. It all started in late July when Zayn shared an Instagram Story from BLACKPINK’s Deadline World Tour in New York. He was there with his 4-year-old daughter, Khai, and wrote they “loved it.”

A few days later, he teased on a live stream that he had “new music coming soon with a cool partner,” which got everyone guessing. On October 5, the songstress released the first teaser for the single. The poster showed her in a black leather dress, standing next to a shadowed figure, captioned “a duet is near.”

The next day, The Korea Herald confirmed that the track was a ballad duet with Zayn, also hinting that his concert appearance tied into the project. October 6 brought the second teaser. This one said, “Two voices, one orbit. Coming soon,” showing the FLOWER singer in front and a mysterious male figure with his back turned.

Fans quickly noticed a tattoo on his head that looked like Zayn’s, fueling the chatter. Finally, on October 8, the pair officially confirmed Eyes Closed as a digital single, set to release two days later. The song officially dropped today, joining the two fanbases in one of the year’s most awaited musical crossovers.

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The Eyes Closed collaboration comes ahead of Zayn’s Las Vegas residency starting mid-January. Right just a week after he revealed plans to reunite with One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson for a new Netflix series. For Jisoo, this is her first track since her solo EP Amortage, which included Earthquake, TEARS, Hugs & Kisses, and Your Love. She’s currently hitting the stage on tour with BLACKPINK, with shows lined up through late January.

Edited by Shreya Jha