Don't Play

Don’t Play is the 5th Single from Anne-Marie’s debut album, AM2, by Anne-Marie, KSI, and features production from Digital Farm Animals.

The song includes a feature from Anne-Marie and production from Digital Farm Animals. This is the second time KSI collaborated with Digital Farm Animals, while it marks the first time KSI teamed up with Anne-Marie. The song was officially released on January 15 2021.

Writing and production
Speaking about collaborating with Anne-Marie, KSI said, "I was just gassed man. I heard the song and thought, 'Anne-Marie has absolutely made this a hit'. It was a good song but she made it insane. I was so gassed." Speaking about collaborating with KSI, Anne-Marie said, ""I am very open and honest and I try to be as down to earth as I can be all the time, but meeting JJ [KSI] opened my eyes even more. He is so real, it was very inspiring. He taught me to be myself and not to change myself for anyone. And his laugh is as crazy as mine. I was so happy about that." KSI and Anne-Marie confirmed shortly after the release of "Don't Play" that they had already started working on a second collaboration.

Music and lyrics
Musically, "Don't Play" is a UK garage track. Constructed in verse–chorus form, the song runs for 3 minutes and 8 seconds (3:08).

In the song, Anne-Marie and KSI deliver emotive lyrics about heartache. Anne-Marie pleads with KSI to not play with her heart, before KSI responds with his own emotive out-pouring of how much he misses her, how much she means to him and how she's blanking him. The song is structured in an almost conversational arrangement.

Release and promotion
On 4 January 2021, KSI shared a snippet of the instrumental to Twitter with the caption, "What female artist do you think would work well for this?" On 6 January 2021, he revealed via social media that the song is a collaboration with Anne-Marie and Digital Farm Animals, titled "Don't Play", and the song was made available for pre-order. "Don't Play" was released for digital download and streaming as a single on 15 January 2021 at 00:00 (UTC) by Asylum Records and Warner. The song was accompanied by the release of a lyric video to Anne-Marie's YouTube channel on the same day.

Critical reception
"Don't Play" was met with positive reviews from music critics. The staff of Contact Music called "Don't Play" a "floor-filling banger" with "an infectious beat and some great vocal interplay between Anne-Marie and KSI". They found that Anne-Marie's "sweet harmonies contrast and compliment KSI's deeper, almost baritone delivery". They called the song "instantly likeable and radio friendly". GRM Daily's Courtney Wynter called Anne-Marie's vocals "delicate" and said that "KSI switches things up by delivering some affectionate lyrics with a more melodic approach than we’re used to". CelebMix 's Katrina Rees said that the song "showcases Anne-Marie’s distinct vocals" and "KSI’s effortless flow", calling the song "uplifting" and a "low-key banger".

Music video
The music video for "Don't Play" was directed by Troy Roscoe. The music video was filmed in London in mid-December 2020. The music video premiered on KSI's YouTube channel on 15 January 2021 at 10:00 (UTC).

The music video opens with Anne-Marie being bullied by a group of girls. In order to overcome the bullies and fight back, Anne-Marie is trained to fight by KSI. Anne-Marie becomes a fearless and take-no-prisoners fighter with a tough-girl mood, embodying the underdog narrative. The video pays homage to Anne-Marie’s background in Karate and KSI's participation in numerous boxing fights against other YouTubers. Anne-Marie revealed that she broke her finger during the music video shoot.

Three behind-the-scenes videos of the music video shoot have been released: the first video was released to Anne-Marie's YouTube channel on 16 January 2021; the second video was released to Digital Farm Animals' YouTube channel on 18 January 2021; and the third video was released to KSI's YouTube channel on 19 January 2021.

Commercial performance
In the United Kingdom, "Don't Play" was the country's most downloaded song in its first week of release and earned the highest new entry on the UK Singles Chart, debuting at number two. In Ireland, "Don't Play" was the highest new entry on the Irish Singles Chart, debuting at number nine. In the United States, the song debuted at number 12 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from Tidal.


 * Anne-Marie – vocals, songwriter
 * KSI – vocals, songwriter
 * Digital Farm Animals – producer, songwriter, bass, drums, keyboard, percussion, piano, sound effects, strings, synthesizer
 * Mojam – producer, songwriter, drums, keyboard, programming, sound effects, synthesizer
 * Andrew Murray – songwriter, harp, live strings
 * Sam Gumbley – songwriter, vocal engineer
 * Richard Boardman – songwriter
 * Pablo Bowman – songwriter
 * Kevin Grainger – engineer, masterer, mixer
 * Cameron Gower Poole – vocal engineer
 * Rob Macfarlane – vocal recording engineer