"Rules" is a song by American rapper and singer

Doja Cat Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (born October 21, 1995), known professionally as Doja Cat (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began making and releasing music on SoundCl ...

, released on October 24, 2019, as the third single from her second studio album '' Hot Pink'' (2019). The song was written by Doja Cat, Yeti Beats, Lydia Asrat, Uptown AP of R. City, and producers

Salaam Remi Salaam Remi Gibbs (born May 14, 1972) is an American record producer. He is most known for producing material for close associates Nas, Amy Winehouse, and Jazmine Sullivan, but has also produced for other mainstream acts including Alicia Key ...

, Tyson Trax, and Ben Billions. Soon after its release, the song became popular on Twitter, and Doja Cat's performance was noted to be influenced by

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

Background

"Rules" was released as the third single from Doja Cat's second album ''Hot Pink'' as well as being the third track on the album. Doja Cat first teased the song by releasing a still from the music video on her

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

account on October 16, 2019 as well as another shot from the video on October 22, 2019. The song was announced upon its release along with its music video premiere.

Music video

On October 24, 2019, a music video was released alongside the song's release. Directed by Christian Sutton while video production was handled by Psycho Films, the video portrays Doja as the boss of a Cat Mafia gang with the video taking place in the desert.

Critical reception

Lakin Starling of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' wrote, " ulescaptures a more serious—though hardly humorless—mood, pairing eerie old-western bass with Doja's memorable command: 'Play with my pussy, but don't play with my emotions.'" Following the release of the song, Shaad D'Souza of ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

'' placed the song on the 20 Best Pop Songs Right Now list admiring the "loose, funky production" as well as Doja's "charisma and charm". Many publications, such as ''

Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...

'' and ''Pitchfork'', praised "Rules" and cited the similarities of Doja Cat's lyrical delivery to those of

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from '' Hot Pink'' liner notes. Recording * Engineered at eightysevenfourteen studios (Los Angeles, California) * Mixed at Threejonet Studios (Los Angeles, California) * Mastered at

Bernie Grundman Mastering Bernie Grundman (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chri ...

(Hollywood, California) Personnel *

– vocals, songwriting * Ben Billions – songwriting, production, all programming, all

instrumentation Instrumentation is a collective term for measuring instruments, used for indicating, measuring, and recording physical quantities. It is also a field of study about the art and science about making measurement instruments, involving the related ...

– songwriting; production, all programming, all instrumentation * Tyson Trax – songwriting; production, all programming, all instrumentation *Lydia Asrat – songwriting * Theron Thomas – songwriting * David Sprecher – songwriting *Kalani Thompson –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

*Seth Ringo – assistant engineering *Tyler Sheppard – assistant engineering *Clint Gibbs – mixing *Danielle Alvarez – production coordination * Mike Bozzi – mastering

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Doja Cat Doja Cat songs 2019 singles 2019 songs Song recordings produced by Dr. Luke Songs written by Dr. Luke Songs written by Yeti Beats Song recordings produced by Yeti Beats Kemosabe Records singles RCA Records singles Songs written by Salaam Remi Songs written by Theron Thomas Songs written by Doja Cat Songs written by Ben Billions