Louis Tomlinson thinks boyband stars are victims of "snobbery".
Louis Tomlinson
The 27-year-old singer - who rose to fame as part of One Direction - believes it's especially tough to make the transition from being a boyband member to a credible rock 'n' roll star.
Louis - who is scheduled to release his debut solo album, Walls', in 2020 - explained: "I think you've just got to kind of earn your stripes as an artist, and be honest and be real - and whoever likes you, great.
"Whoever doesn't ... well, it is what it is, I suppose."
Louis' upcoming album has a distinctly different sound to that of One Direction, and he's been pleased with how his long-time fans have reacted to the music he's already released.
He told Yahoo Entertainment: "It makes me feel really good to do something that is true to my influences and get a good reaction.
"Some people were a little bit shocked, but that's exciting, you know what I mean? That's the way it should be with music."
Louis also insisted he's not obsessed with achieving commercial success as a solo artist.
The singer - who freely admits to having fallen "out of love" with music for a time - is instead focused on making the sort of songs that he enjoys listening to.
He said: "To be fair, I fell out of love with music a little bit, and I actually kind of come back round to finding bands that I used to love, and finding new bands.
"I had a bit of an epiphany with music - and with my music. I thought, instead of making music for other people, I should start making music for myself and what I really love. So it feels really refreshing to be able to do that."
Tagged in One Direction Louis Tomlinson