‘Cash Rules’ Everything Around Iyla In Her Luxe New Video

After returning with last month’s ex-blasting “Tattoo Tears,” Iyla has a few more things to get off her chest. On Friday (February 7), the rising R&B/pop singer released the EP Other Ways To Vent, which includes a new single, “Cash Rules.” Though its title may suggest Iyla’s all about flaunting her riches, she’s actually doing the opposite, calling out her man for having fucked-up priorities.

“You say cash rules everything around you, what above love?” she asks, before further posing, “What about us? What about trust?” In the Embryo-directed video, she continues insisting her partner is “focused on the wrong things,” even as she dresses in her most luxurious fashions (peep that blinged-out, ruby-encrusted headpiece!) and dines on heaps of gold chains resembling spaghetti.

The song, of course, interpolates the classic “cash rules everything around me” mantra from Wu-Tang Clan’s “C.R.E.A.M.” In homage to the original, “Cash Rules” features original Wu member Method Man, who raps from a penthouse apartment about giving “Little Miss-Over-The-Top” exactly what she needs out of a partner: “No you don’t care about the things that I got / You only care about me giving everything that I got.”

In a press release, Iyla explained that the video is all about “the disconnect between love and money.” She added, “The messy deteriorated house we’re in represents the state of our relationship. Even though the house is filled with jewelry, money, and I’m adorned in expensive things, we are completely disconnected from each other.”

“Cash Rules” follows “Tattoo Tears” as the latest single from Iyla’s second EP, Other Ways To Vent, out now. Later this month, the singer-songwriter will embark on her first headlining tour, on which she’ll perform her new EP, as well as 2018’s War + Raindrops. Iyla told MTV News last month that her first project was “more summery” but that its sequel “definitely leans on the darker, more ethereal vibe.” She explained, “I think it was important for me to go a little deeper into who I am and get a little more in my feelings. It’s showing the ways that I vent, and music is my way.”