Cassie relaxes poolside with a tiger in the new video for “Don’t Play It Safe,” a downtempo funk single that commands a lover to “take the reins.”
“Don’t Play It Safe” is produced by Kaytranada, who crafts a beat full of juicy, rumbling low-end and skipping hi-hats. Cassie heaps instructions on top of this foundation: “Don’t wait,” “change the pace up,” “show me some things.”
The video is full of lush greenery, an expensive-looking mansion and a pristine pool. Cassie strolls from one environment to the next and the beat is similarly assured. But despite the casual environment, Cassie is in a seize-the-moment kind of mood: “Time is the enemy,” she sings. “Why waste it now?”
“Don’t Play It Safe” will supposedly appear on Cassie’s sophomore album, the long-awaited follow-up to her 2006 debut Cassie. The singer’s other recently released single, “Love a Loser” with G-Eazy, was added by four mainstream R&B/hip-hop radio stations last week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
