Rihanna has released her first solo single in six years, music from the upcoming Black Panther sequel’s soundtrack.
Lift Me Up was released on Friday after the singer hinted at her comeback to music earlier in the week via social media.
The song will be used in the November release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever by Marvel.
Director Ryan Coogler stated that Rihanna’s participation was a tribute to the late actor Chadwick Boseman.
“In all honesty, I believe it was Chad,” he stated. “Many improbable events had to occur for it to be successful, and Rihanna was very clear that she did this for him.”
The first Black Panther picture starred Chadwick Boseman, who also played in Da 5 Bloods, 21 Bridges, and the James Brown biopic Get On Up.
In 2020, four years after being diagnosed with colon cancer, he passed away. Boseman was posthumously nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom in 2016.
Coogler noted, “We understood that [Rihanna] was also at a period in her life where she was focusing on different things, such as business and motherhood, which is a major element in our film.
Rihanna, Coogler, and Nigerian singer-songwriter Terms co-wrote Lift Me Up. Terms have previously collaborated with Drake, Justin Bieber, Future, Wizkid, Beyonce, and Khalid.
Swedish composer Ludwig Goransson, who scored the first Black Panther picture as well as Creed, Venom, and Tenet, produced and co-wrote the song.
Rihanna’s distinctive vocals are projected over a beautiful background of delicate piano notes and string instruments. As the climax of the ethereal song approaches, the vocalist is joined by a quiet backing chorus.
She sings, “Lift me up, holds me down, keeps me near, safe”
On social media, fans enthusiastically greeted the release of the single, with many joking via a series of memes that the music was causing them to levitate, while others called it a “disappointing” comeback and “clearly a movie soundtrack song.”
Lift Me Up is Rihanna’s first solo single since the 2016 release of her album Anti.
Since then, she has collaborated with musicians like PartyNextDoor and N.E.R.D. and appeared alongside DJ Khaled and Bryson Tiller on the wildly successful Wild Thoughts.
In recent years, however, she has been largely absent from the music scene as she has focused on building her fashion, lingerie, skincare, and cosmetics company Fenty, as well as recently having a son with rapper A$AP Rocky.
She also appears alongside Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett in the 2018 revival of the Ocean’s 11 franchise, Ocean’s 8.
Rihanna will headline the Super Bowl halftime show in Arizona in February, marking her first live performance in more than five years.
Her participation in Wakanda Forever will raise fan anticipation for the sequel to Black Panther, which was a massive box office triumph and was nominated for an Oscar for best film.
The 11th of November release will see Letitia Wright and Lupita Nyong’o reprising their roles as the kingdom of Wakanda fights to repel invading armies following the death of King T’Challa.
