"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 digital download and streaming 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 critics. 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. 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 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.
Background
"New Rules" was originally written by Caroline Ailin, Emily Warren and its producer Ian Kirkpatrick during a writing camp for English girl band Little Mix. Kirkpatrick also engineered and programmed the track, while Chris Gehringer mastered it and Josh Gudwin mixed it. According to Warren, she was told in the early years of her career to never write a song where the male partner will not "get it", but later stopped following that because she thinks the "best writing" happens when she stops worrying about what to do and just expresses herself. She added that she applied this approach with "New Rules", whose lyrics were inspired by Ailin's struggles with the temptation of getting back together with a former boyfriend. The song was passed down by a few artists, including one who thought it did not have a notable hook.
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: