Before 2022 came to a close, Dave East teamed up with DJ Drama for the Gangsta Grillz mixtape Book of David, which was mainly produced by Buda & Grandz. The project consisted of 17 songs and additional appearances from Katt Rockell, Mana Bada, Berner, and the late Kiing Shooter.

Yesterday (Jan. 11), East decided to bless the masses with a new visual from Book of David for “Rules.” With additional production provided by Looisey and Mike Kuz, the booming effort provides the perfect soundscape for the Harlem emcee’s street-oriented subject matter, inspired by The Notorious B.I.G.‘s “Ten Crack Commandments”:

“Biggie had commandments, I got rules, pay attention, show you how to move, ain’t nothing you can do to ever get me out this mood, it’s hard to stop a n**ga that’s determined not to lose, decided not to snooze, now we pop a lot of Veuve, we keep the grass cut to keep the snakes up out this loop, me plus two bad b**ches out this coupe look like a group, like how you gonna blame us, getting this paper is all we knew…”

The accompanying clip for “Rules” comes courtesy of StreetHeat and East’s From The Dirt (FTD) collective. Viewers can see the Paranoia talent hijacking a classroom full of mischievous students and delivering his rhymes from an old warehouse.

In addition to Book of David, 2022 spawned another body of work from East titled HDIGH (or How Did I Get Here?). That release initially contained nine cuts and contributions from Anthony Hamilton, Method Man, Musiq Soulchild, Kalan.FrFr, Trae Tha Truth, Benny the Butcher, Steven Young, and OnlyIfWeVibe. Months after its arrival, a deluxe version of HDIGH made landfall with four more songs, including the Lyrivelli and Peedi Crakk-assisted “Proud of Me.” Press play on Dave East’s “Rules” video below.