For the William Wei song also known as "Playing Games", see Play Game.
"Playing Games" is a song by American singer Summer Walker from their debut studio album, Over It (2019). The song was released as the lead single from the album on August 23, 2019.[1] The extended version features guest vocals from American singer Bryson Tiller. The song samples Destiny's Child's song "Say My Name" (1999).[2]
Alphonse Pierre of Pitchfork said that, in the song, Walker "addresses the lame dudes that continue to take their passion for granted" while not acknowledging "their relationship on Instagram".[3]The Fader named it one of the best songs on Over It, reasoning their choice by stating that the chorus is a "full interpolation of one of Destiny’s Child’s most ubiquitous preachings" despite Walker not "phoning it in" and compared it to an old Nelly song.[4]
The music video was released on October 8, 2019, and was directed by Christine Yuan.[5] Despite being featured on the extended version of the song, Bryson Tiller does not appear in the clip. The video features shots of Walker sitting and lying on a bed surrounded by bright city lights in the backdrop.[6] During the video, Walker has one man tied up and hanging from the ceiling while another one is seen being confined to a chair.[7] Being fed-up with lies, Walker goes on to ignore a man bringing them flowers and apologizing.[5]
