One week after rumors started floating that Rihanna would be coming back to music, it has officially been confirmed. The singer herself teased that her first single in six years, “Lift Me Up,†will be out this Friday as part of the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack. Co-written by Tems, Ludwig Van Göransson, and director Ryan Coogler, the track is a tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman. Rihanna’s been hard at work. Per multiple critics, the star has a second song called “Born Again†that also plays during the credits. That one is produced by the-Dream, and both are ballads, per the New York Times’s Kyle Buchanan. Below, feast on the first notes heard sung from Rihanna in thousands of days.
“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 who 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,†Tems said in a statement. “Rihanna has been an inspiration to me, so hearing her convey this song is a great honor.â€
The first tweet that tipped us off simply included the looking-eyes emoji and an R with “October 28, 2022.†But the most important R is obviously Rihanna. This marks a triumphant return to music, after starting business after business, not to mention a family. We did our waiting and now there’s only hours until new music.
This post has been updated.