"Don't Play with It" is a single by American rapper

Lola Brooke Shyniece Deneen Thomas (born February 1, 1994), professionally known as Lola Brooke, is an American Rapping, rapper. Born and raised in Brooklyn, she is best known for her 2021 single "Don't Play with It", which gained popularity on Twitter and ...

featuring Billy B. It was released in May 2021 and produced by Dizzy Banko. The song was a

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game or other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release, but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have ...

, gaining traction through the video-sharing app

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

in 2022 and becoming the breakout hit of both artists.

Background

In an interview with '' Brooklyn Magazine'', when asked how the song came about, Lola Brooke stated, "I was tired of people playing with me, for real. That's really what it was." Brooke was at home when Dizzy Banko was playing her some beats over the phone, and after hearing one of the beats, immediately told him to send it to her. She said, "I was listening to that and I was like 'Don't play with it, don't play with it, don't play with it!'" The song was originally a freestyle; according to Brooke, "I was walking back and forth in the house, and I was like, 'Don't play with it, don't play with it' and I just kept going." After recording the song in the studio, she left an open verse, eventually choosing rapper Billy B for a guest appearance because they were both from

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

Release and promotion

The song was released on May 14, 2021, along with a music video. Lola Brooke garnered further recognition for the song with a performance on "From the Block" in November 2021. It caught widespread attention via TikTok in 2022; by October of that year, the video surpassed over 500,000 views. The song considerably increased in streams on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

, amassing two million streams in November 2022. As a result of its success, Brooke received cosigns from various celebrities, including rappers

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, JT of City Girls, Saucy Santana and

Pusha T Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as one half of the Virginia-based hip hop duo Clipse, which he formed with his older brother No Malice, Malice. M ...

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and

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

, and eventually signed to

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

Remix

An official remix of the song featuring American rappers

Latto Alyssa Michelle Stephens (born December 22, 1998), known professionally as Latto (formerly known as Mulatto), is an American rapper and singer-songwriter from Atlanta. She first appeared on Jermaine Dupri's reality television series ''The Rap G ...

and

Yung Miami Caresha Romeka Brownlee (born February 11, 1994), better known by her stage name Yung Miami, is an American rapper. She formed the Miami, Florida-based hip hop duo City Girls with JT (rapper), JT in 2017, and began her solo career in 2021. Releas ...

of City Girls was released on March 24, 2023 with an accompanying music video, which was filmed on March 20 in New York City. In an email to ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'', Brooke stated, "I wanted to bring more cities to my world. You have Latto from Atlanta and Yung Miami from Miami and they both go hard for their cities like I do for Brooklyn. The energy was to the ceiling while shooting the music video. We shot it in one day this past Monday, actually. I'll tell y'all this, the

NYPD The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

tried to shut my video down twice but we still were able to all do the things we like to doooo. Don't play with us!" The video sees the rappers in the streets and under a freeway overpass, with a large entourage and across the city from Harlem to Brooklyn.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Reflist 2021 singles 2021 songs Lola Brooke songs Drill songs Arista Records singles