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This single offers an introspection on money, relationships and respect, and the rules Kojey’s set to protect these elements of his life offering listeners a second to pick up these rules and meet his music in this protected space.
While Kojey may be setting the rules straight, there is nothing restrictive about ‘Rule One’. The track opens with a stripped-back beat and a chorus of people feeling the music with Ay’s and Oh’s, which bleed into the background of the track, keeping the energy up throughout. The rules laid out by Kojey come from a place of protection (“never let them step up on the carpet that you pray”) and wanting to share with his audience what he’s learnt rather than offer rigid constraints to his life and music. Instead, with the layering of the vibing backing vocals, Kojey schools listeners on how to protect themselves while still having fun.
The ‘Rule One’ music video also offers a visual balance of this same relationship between work and play, where Kojey raps on a treadmill by himself in one moment and surrounded by people vibing to his music in the next.
Kojey has always had a deeper register, but he truly puts it to work in the chorus, where he contrasts his usual rapping style with a deeper, smoother register. This more authoritative, bassier tone offers an air of finality to his lyrics and rules.
With ‘Rule One’, Kojey Radical catches his listeners up to speed with where his art will be heading next. Listeners can expect to hear this dynamic of work and play through his upcoming music - the work he’s put in and the fun listeners are about to have with it.
Ella Wilson-Coates
Image: ‘Rule One’ (feat. Bawo) Official Single Cover
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