Songfacts®:

• Here, Dua Lipa sings about trying to move on from an ex. She explained to the BBC, "It's about keeping your distance from someone who's bad for you. I'm setting some rules down so [that I] won't go back to that person."
  
  Asked to clarify the rules, Lipa replied:
  
  "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're only going to wake up in his bed in the morning. And if you're under him, you ain't over him!"
• The song's music video was filmed at Miami Beach's Confidante Hotel on Collins Avenue. It was directed by Henry Scholfield, who also shot Dua Lipa's "Lost in Your Light" clip.
  
  The visual's concept was dreamt up by Scholfield and Lipa after hours discussing female empowerment over tea in the singer's home. Dua Lipa told Billboard magazine she, "wanted to show women looking after each other and that we have each other's backs."
• Lipa said: "It's the breakup song that I wish I had when I was breaking up with someone. This is me taking charge."
• When this leapt from #5 to #1 on the UK singles chart dated August 20, 2017, Dua Lipa became the first female solo act to reach peak position in almost two years. Adele was the previous member of the fairer sex to achieve the feat when "Hello" claimed the top spot in October 2015.
• This was ranked #1 on Time magazine's Top Songs of 2017 list. They wrote: "'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."
• Dua Lipa was interviewed by Katy Perry for V magazine. Speaking about this song's music video, she said:
  
  "For 'New Rules,' I had no idea where I wanted it to go. Some directors were sending ideas but there was nothing that I liked. In the meantime, I saw a picture of [an old] Gianni Versace campaign with Naomi Campbell on the back of [Kristen McMenamy]. I loved the colors, how it was shot, and the message of girls looking after each other. Initially, 'New Rules' felt like such a sad song, even though it's upbeat. It was nice to change it into a routine with friends if you're going through a breakup or any sort of trouble."
• The song was written and produced by Ian Kirkpatrick (Jason DeRulo's "Want to Want Me," Nick Jonas "Levels" and Selena Gomez's "Bad Liar"). There was additional writing from frequent Chainsmokers collaborator Emily Warren and Caroline Ailin.
• Warren told Billboard the song's success flew in the face of advice she'd been given at the start of her songwriting career. "When I first moved to LA, I was told to never write a song in which the guy wasn't gonna get it. Times have changed," she laughed.
• Warren said that Caroline Ailin and her set out to pen a tune that would encourage women dealing with good for nothing guys. She explained that Caroline "was going through that sort of thing, and we were like, 'Let's just write a song that makes you not do that again if you listen to it.'"