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Music

What Is Actually Happening to Liam Payne's Accent?

Babes you're from Wolverhampton not Calabasas.
Lauren O'Neill
London, GB

Liam Payne of One Direction fame will release his first solo single, "Strip That Down" (sorry, just retrieving my eyes which have rolled into the back of my head) this Friday 19 May, and it's been confirmed to feature Quavo, of the actual Migos. It appears that hanging out with Quavo and, presumably, some other American pals too, has left Liam with a new accent, as he demonstrated in a recent interview:

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It is definitely really funny when celebrities who are absolutely, resolutely British (here Liam is doing the big Saino's shop in case there was any doubt) spend a few weeks in LA and then start talking like Kylie Jenner or something – looking at you, Alex Turner – and it appears that your boy Payno from Wolverhampton has fallen victim to the allure of the American accent.

As a fellow Midlander, I am both dismayed and amused – on one hand, how dare he disavow the accent of his homeland when the rest of us are cursed with this boring drone forever? Hilariously it does actually re-emerge when he's trying to do his cool guy "who loves Ed Sheeran?" schtick – can't escape that horrible hard Midlands "u" sound in "love" no matter how hard you try, can you pal? – and he kind of sounds like the guy playing Kenickie in a Birmingham school production of Grease, not quite nailing the American twang, but giving it a good go.

On the other hand, though, absolutely fair play because Midlands accents, in general, are the aural equivalent of watching paint dry, really, really slowly (I am allowed to say it because I too am afflicted). Can't blame him for trading it in really, even if he does sound bizarre.

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(Image via Liam Payne on Instagram)