"Playing Games" is a song by American singer

Summer Walker Summer Marjani Walker (born April 11, 1996) is an American R&B singer. In 2017, she signed to Love Renaissance and Interscope Records. The following year, she released the mixtape '' Last Day of Summer,'' which spawned the single " Girls Need ...

from their debut studio album, '' Over It'' (2019). The song was released as the lead single from the album on August 23, 2019. The extended version features guest vocals from American singer

Bryson Tiller Bryson Djuan Tiller (born January 2, 1993) is an American singer and rapper. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he began his career in 2011 with a mixtape entitled ''Killer Instinct Vol. 1''. Tiller initially gained mainstream success in 2015 follow ...

. The song samples

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final line-up comprised Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. After years of limited ...

's song "

Say My Name "Say My Name" is a song by American group Destiny's Child from their second studio album, ''The Writing's on the Wall'' (1999). It was written by Beyoncé Knowles, LeToya Luckett, LaTavia Roberson, Kelly Rowland, LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins I ...

" (1999).

Critical reception

Alphonse Pierre of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' 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". ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...

'' 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 Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

song.

Music video

The music video was released on October 8, 2019, and was directed by Christine Yuan. 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. During the video, Walker has one man tied up and hanging from the ceiling while another one is seen being confined to a chair. Being fed-up with lies, Walker goes on to ignore a man bringing them flowers and apologizing.

Charts

Weekly charts

Original version

Extended version

Year-end charts

Original version

Certifications

References

{{Bryson Tiller 2019 singles 2019 songs Bryson Tiller songs Songs written by London on da Track Songs written by LeToya Luckett Songs written by Kelly Rowland Songs written by Beyoncé Songs written by Fred Jerkins III Songs written by Rodney Jerkins Songs written by LaShawn Daniels Songs written by Bryson Tiller