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" New Rules" is a song by English and Albanian singer Dua Lipa from her eponymous debut studio album (2017). The song was written by Caroline Ailin, Emily Warren, and Ian Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick also handled the production and offered it to Lipa after it was rejected by multiple artists. The song was released through Warner Bros. Records for Music download and Streaming media on 7July 2017 as the album's seventh single. It is an electropop and tropical house track with an EDM production that includes dance-pop beats and dancehall rhythms. The lyrics see Lipa giving herself a set of rules in order to get over a former boyfriend. Lipa stated that it was the breakup song that she wished she had when she was breaking up with someone.
"New Rules" was met with acclaim from Music journalism. The song was nominated for British Single of the Year at the 2018 Brit Awards and appeared on year-end lists from publications including Billboard, The Guardian and The New York Times. Commercially, the song became Lipa's first number one single on the UK Singles Chart and reached that position in five other territories. it is the most streamed song by a British female in the UK and it broke the record for the most weeks on the US Mainstream Top 40 chart. It was the second-most played song of the 2010s decade on the format. Additionally, it became Lipa's first top 10 entry on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 6. The song is certified multi-platinum in 13 territories, including quintuple platinum in the UK and diamond in Canada, France, and Poland. The song's commercial success has been attributed to the popularity of its music video.
The music video for "New Rules" was directed by Henry Scholfield and takes place at the Confidante Hotel in Miami. It features Lipa staying at a hotel room with her friends, who prevent her from getting back together with her former boyfriend. The video was met with critical acclaim, some of whom commended its themes of female empowerment. It made Lipa the youngest female artist with a video to surpass one billion views on YouTube. The video was nominated for British Music Video of the Year at the 2018 Brit Awards and Best Choreography at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards. Lipa promoted the song with performances at the 2017 BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards, 2018 Brit Awards and 2018 Billboard Music Awards. Remixes by Alison Wonderland, Kream and SG Lewis were released for further promotion.
In January 2017, Dua Lipa announced through her Facebook account that she was postponing the release of her eponymous debut studio album to 2 June of that year in order to record more songs. After this, she traveled to Los Angeles, California, where Kirkpatrick played her "New Rules" and she recorded it. The song was recorded at Zenseven Studios in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, NRG Studios in North Hollywood, Los Angeles and Atlantic Recording Studios in Los Angeles while the vocals were recorded at TaP Studio / Strongroom 7 in London. Chris Gehringer mastered the song at Sterling Sound in New York City. When asked about the fact that she did not write the song after saying in past interviews that she preferred to write her own music, Lipa stated that her perspective had changed and that:
In the lyrics, the singer sets a list of rules to prevent her from getting back together with an ex-boyfriend. The rules are: "One: Don't pick up the phone, you know he's only calling 'cause he's drunk and alone / Two: Don't let him in, you'll have to kick him out again / Three: Don't be his friend, you know you're going to wake up in his bed in the morning." Lipa confessed that "they're not necessarily rules I've been able to stick by. But they're rules that I feel like it's important to be able to tell yourself, to tell your friends... There's a reason people break up, and it's probably the same reason why you shouldn't get back together." Warren explained that the track was a self-reminder for people recovering from a break-up to not succumb to a momentary temptation since it is not "a good idea in the long term". Talking about the song, Lipa explained that "'New Rules' is quite different to a lot of tracks on the album. I wanted it to feel very new ... It's the breakup song that I wish I had when I was breaking up with someone" and that "It's about keeping your distance from someone who's bad for you. I'm setting some rules down so that won't go back to that person."
A remix of "New Rules" by Alison Wonderland was released on 25August of that year. An acoustic version of the song was released 20October. An extended play (EP) featuring remixes by Kream, Freedo, SG Lewis, MRK titled "Club Mix" as well as the one by Wonderland was released 3November. On 17November, "New Rules" was released as a CD single in Germany, with its acoustic version as its B-side. A week later, a 1980s and vaporwave-styled, Hi-NRG remix by Initial Talk was released. The DJ was inspired by "Two of Hearts" (1986) by Stacey Q and included heavy synths with SFX drums. It was accompanied by a visual featuring a fuzzy VCR footage of an old Miss Teen Canada pageant. The remix appears Japanese special edition of Dua Lipa and the Japanese edition of the album's 2018 reissue, .
A live piano acoustic version of "New Rules" appears as the closing track on the singer's Live Acoustic EP, released 8December of that year. The following year, another live version of Lipa's performance at the 2018 Brit Awards was released on 21February. An official live version of the song that was recorded at the 29June 2018 stop of Lipa's world tour in San Diego was released on 6September of that year; it appears as the closing track of Dua Lipa: Complete Edition. Lipa's performance of the song on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge was included on their 23 November 2018-released compilation album, BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2018 as the third track. A different live version of the song appears as the second track on Lipa's Deezer Sessions EP, released 11April 2019.
Larisha Paul of Baeble Music deemed it as an "absolute banger" and a "timeless song". On his review of the album, Sebas E. Alonso of Spanish website Jenesaispop noted that "New Rules" had influences of the music of the 1990s. Alonso further included the track on his list of the best songs of August 2017, calling it a "summer hit". Hannah J Davies of The Guardian stated that it was "infused with EDM and tropical house without sounding too consciously trend-chasing", while Luke Holland of the same publication called it the track of the week and praised the lyrical content, though he further stated that "disposable pop is now actually this good". In another review from the publication, Ben Beaumont-Thomas named the song a "powerful pop psychodrama". Raisa Bruner of Time wrote that "'New Rules' works so well because it's both stylish and layered: As an escapist fantasy of girl-power, it's a triumph, but as a rallying cry to buck the status quo, it's even better." In a more negative review, DIYs Alim Kheraj stated that the song "is a flat tropically-tinged empowerment track that already sounds dated."
"New Rules" has received several awards and nominations. At the 2018 Brit Awards, the song was nominated for British Single of the Year. It won best single at the BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards in 2017. It was a winning song at the 2019 BMI Awards. It won International Song of the Year at the LOS40 Music Awards 2018 and Best Song To Lip Sync To at the 2018 Radio Disney Music Awards. The song additionally received nominations for Pop Song of the Year at the 2017 The Beano, International Song of the Year at the 2018 Gaygalan Awards, Global Hit of the Year at the 2018 MTV Millennial Awards, Song of the Year at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards, Best Track at the 2018 NME Awards and at the 2018 Teen Choice Awards.
"New Rules" reached the summit of charts in Ireland, the Netherlands and the Flanders region of Belgium. In Australia, the song reached number two on the ARIA Singles Chart dated 1October 2017, after debuting at number 46 eight weeks earlier. After selling 490,000 track-equivalent units, it was awarded a seven times platinum certification from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). In New Zealand, the song reached number three and was certified 6× platinum by the Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ) for sales of 180,000. In France, the song was awarded a diamond certification from the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) for selling 333,333 track-equivalent units.
In the United States, "New Rules" spent two weeks on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart before entering the Billboard Hot 100 at number 90 on the chart dated 19August 2017, becoming her third entry on the ranking, after "Blow Your Mind (Mwah)" in 2016, and "Scared to Be Lonely" earlier that year. The song later at number six the following February, becoming Lipa's first top 10 hit in the United States and her highest-peaking single on the occasion. It also became Lipa's third number one on the Dance Club Songs chart and topped the Pop Songs chart for four weeks in February 2018. On the Pop Songs chart dated 23June 2018, it spent its forty-second week, becoming the track with the most weeks on the chart. It was certified five times platinum from the Recording Industry Association of America for 5,000,000 track-equivalent sales in the US. In Canada, "New Rules" reached number seven on the Canadian Singles Chart and was awarded a diamind certification by Music Canada (MC) for selling 800,000 track-equivalent units.
The filming took place in June 2017 at The Confidante, a hotel located in Miami Beach that is part of the Unbound Collection brand by Hyatt. Hyatt's vice president of global brands, Sandra Micek, stated that the collaboration between the artist and the hotel made sense to her because "The inspiration and its name came from the notion of being a trusted friend". Regarding the shooting, Scholfield commented that the camera was quite near during the dance routines, in order to film more uninterrupted single-take. During an interview with NPR, Lipa commented that, "What I wanted to convey in this video is the unity and togetherness of women supporting each other, helping each other and looking after each other in a situation." The visual premiered through Lipa's YouTube account on 7July 2017. After this, Hyatt released two behind-the-scenes clips of the shooting.
After the song's bridge, one of the women makes plans of reuniting with her former boyfriend, but is stopped by Lipa, who gives her the advice she received at the beginning of the visual. After this, the group perform a choreography in front of the pool, in which they pull "each other in closer, in an unbreakable ring of limbs". This is Lipa and Scholfield's favorite scene, with the latter stating, "That wrapped up the whole story for me. The viewer is on the outside, but that choreography pulls you into them, and makes you a part of that connection, too." The video ends with the women standing in front of the pool, with the camera turning upside-down and then showing a group of flamingos at the same location.
The music video for "New Rules" was met with acclaim from critics, many of whom praised its pop visuals and themes of female empowerment. Aliza Abarbanel of Refinery29 commented on the visual, "'New Rules', and all the epic outfits in it, perfectly encapsulates the joy of female friendship—and the joy in getting dressed up together." Papers Claire Valentine labelled it Lipa's "strongest video so far." Hafeezah Nazim of Nylon called it "a empowering visual", while New Statesman writer Anna Leszkiewicz described it as a "colourful and acutely choreographed video", as well as considering it one of the best clips released in July 2017. Alessia Scappaticci of The Loop praised the visual's themes of self-esteem, diversity and friendship, adding that it "definitely deserves all of the positive attention it's been getting". T.L. Stanley of Adweek noted that in the plot, the women are "standing together, mirroring a current trend in pop culture and entertainment that shows women supporting each other (catfights are so yesterday)." BBC reporter Mark Savage wrote that the video is "unquestionably brilliant" and should have won British Video of the Year at the 2018 Brit Awards. Owen Myers of The Fader praised the female-empowerment themes of the clip, and furthermore commented on its importance on Lipa's career, stating that, "The release of 'New Rules' gave Lipa something else that until then mostly eluded her: credibility. She has often talked in interviews about her feminist beliefs, and taking pride in her involvement with every aspect of her music."
The music video also received positive comments from artists like Lorde, Charli XCX and Tegan and Sara through their respective Twitter accounts. On 12July 2017, Lipa thanked her fans for the visual's popularity, and recommended them to use the hashtag #DuasNewRules when uploading covers of the track in order to include them on a compilation video. The next day, Filmmaker Jake Wilson uploaded a gay parody of the music video using the hashtag, which drew the attention of some blogs and the artist herself. On 4August 2017, the singer released the compilation video of covers and parodies of the song and the visual on her YouTube account.
On 3February 2018, Lipa sang "New Rules" and "Homesick" on Saturday Night Live. Alex Robert Ross of Vice Media reviewed positively the performance, calling it "ultimately professional" and praising Lipa for her vocal rendition. Ten days later, she appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she performed "New Rules" accompanied by a group of dancers wearing sleepwear similar to that of the music video. The next day, Lipa sang an acoustic version of the track on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge segment. On 14February, the artist performed "New Rules" and "IDGAF" on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The performance was not aired until 19 March 2018, around the time the singer cancelled two shows in Australia to remove her wisdom teeth. This led journalist Richard Wilkins, thinking the performance occurred on the air date, to accuse the singer of lying on Nine News. Lipa responded through her Twitter account, indicating the difference between the dates and stating that she was still recovering from the surgery in Australia. Although Wilkins apologised, the artist later told KIIS-FM that she have found his comments "dangerous" and "really upsetting".
Lipa performed "New Rules" during the 2018 Brit Awards on a summer-styled stage, moments after winning the British Female Solo Artist accolade. Billboards Rachel George deemed the performance as "girl-power inspired". Lipa's appearance helped her eponymous debut studio album, which had previously peaked at number five, to reach number three on the UK Albums Chart. On 20 May 2018, the artist performed "New Rules" at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards. Six days later, Lipa sang the track as part of a medley of her most successful songs during the opening ceremony of the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final in Kyiv, Ukraine. The song was later included on the setlist of Lipa's 2022 Future Nostalgia Tour.
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| 22 August 2017 | Contemporary hit radio | |
| 20 October 2017 | Acoustic | |
| 3 November 2017 | Remixes EP | |
| 21 February 2018 | Live at the BRITs | |
| 6 September 2018 | Live |
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