"Instruction" is a song by English DJ and record producer Jax Jones, featuring American singer

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne "Demi" Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), she starred in the Disney Channel short series ...

and English rapper

Stefflon Don Stephanie Victoria Allen (born 14 December 1991), known professionally as Stefflon Don, is an English rapper. She rose to fame with her 2017 single "Hurtin' Me" (featuring French Montana), which peaked at number seven on the UK singles chart, ...

. It was written by MNEK, Stefflon Don, Demi Lovato and Jax Jones, with the song's production handled by Jax Jones and Mark Ralph. It was released on 16 June 2017, through

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

. "Instruction" is included on the deluxe edition of Lovato's sixth studio album, '' Tell Me You Love Me''.

Background

On 12 June 2017, Jax Jones first shared a snippet of the song on Twitter, along with the single's release date. Stefflon Don also tweeted a similar snippet a few minutes later, while Demi Lovato tweeted it on 13 June 2017, revealing the featured artists of the song. "This one's about to be fire," she captioned her post. Demi Lovato shared a longer teaser of the song on 14 June 2017, revealing more of the song's lyrics.

Composition

"Instruction" is a

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

song. The Brazilian website for ''Billboard'' wrote that the track begins with " he

samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

's drums" and is followed by "a beat of

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular music, popular and electronic music that originated in Panamanian reggaetón, Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puert ...

– the rhythm of the moment".

Critical reception

Mike Wass of Idolator said: "The

-infused banger, which boasts a verse from UK rapper Stefflon Don, is an instant Song of the Summer contender." Kat Bein of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' stated that "it already promises to stomp summer radio into total submission." She described the song as a "massive tune led by booming drums with a colorful pop attitude, counter-pointed by the unmistakable party of Brazilian Carnival."

Music video

The music video was filmed on 20 July 2017, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The music video for Instruction was directed by Ozzie Pullin, and it was released on 2 August 2017. It shows

, Jax Jones and other backgrounds artists/dancers dancing and playing various instruments.

Live performances

On 18 August 2017, Jones joined

on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'', where they made the first televised performance of the track. On 10 November 2017, Jones, Lovato and

performed the song for the first time together at BBC's Sounds Like Friday Night Show. In June 2018, Jones joined Demi Lovato during the Tell Me You Love Me World Tour to perform 'Instruction' during all UK dates except

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

Usage in media

The song is featured in tenth episode of the television series '' The Bold Type''. The song was featured in the 2017 dance rhythm game, '' Just Dance 2018''. It was also played during the '' Miss Universe 2017'' swimsuit competition. It is also used in a 2018 Schwarzkopf television advertisement in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. * Jax Jones – composer, lyricist, producer, drum programmer, programmer, recording arranger, synthesizer programmer * Demi Lovato – composer, lyricist, vocalist * Stefflon Don – composer, lyricist, vocalist * MNEK – composer, lyricist * Mark Ralph – producer, mixer * Stuart Hawkes – mastering engineer * Drew Smith – engineer * Tom AD Fuller – assistant recording engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2017 singles 2017 songs Demi Lovato songs Jax Jones songs Stefflon Don songs Songs written by Jax Jones Songs written by Demi Lovato Polydor Records singles Songs written by MNEK Songs written by Stefflon Don Song recordings produced by Mark Ralph (record producer) Song recordings produced by Jax Jones Dancehall songs