It’s been six years. Six years too long since Rihanna released an album and it’s been two years since we heard her voice in anything ( referencing the itsy part she had in “Believe It” with PARTYNEXTDOOR). She’s kept us fed with her fashion and beauty line FENTY but we would be lying if we say we are not ecstatic to share that she will be releasing a new single tomorrow the 28th called “Lift Me Up”.
Not only is the world turning on its heels with that news BUT this song will also be part of the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Soundtrack. If you think you’re fan-girling real hard rn, you should see us. After a recent press release, it was confirmed that this was written by Rihanna, our very own Afrobeats artist- Tems, producer Ludwig Göransson, and director Ryan Coogler. It will be the lead single for the movie and it was written as a tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman who died in August 2020 after a four-year battle with cancer. He played the role of T’chala, the King of Wakanda and The Black Panther in multiple Marvel movies.
Tems shared, “After speaking with Ryan and hearing his direction for the film and the song, I wanted to write something that portrays a warm embrace from all the people that I’ve lost in my life. I tried to imagine what it would feel like if I could sing to them now and express how much I miss them. Rihanna has been an inspiration to me so hearing her convey this song is a great honour.”
On November 4, the soundtrack for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be made available. Hollywood Records will release Ludwig Göransson’s original score for the movie the following week, on November 11(which is also when the movie will be out in cinemas). There will be more new music to come, which could take the shape of a second song on the Wakanda Forever soundtrack, according to a press release for the song, which teases that “Lift Me Up” marks “the next era of Rihanna’s renowned career.” To her fans, this is amazing news and it comes right after Rihanna announced on September 25 that she will be headlining the Superbowl halftime show in February 2023. Every Rihanna fan is going crazy right now and so are we. She left us for so long and she’s coming back with a bang. It seems like the world is going to say “it was worth the wait”. “She was worth the wait”. Lastly, though there has been some talk about Rihanna’s long-awaited ninth studio album, no one is really sure when that will be dropping but with everything else coming up we think fans would be sated enough to wait for that album drop.