Rihanna fans have waited long and hard for this day – she has finally returned to music with a song on featured on the soundtrack of Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Cryptic billboards around New York and a short teaser posted on Rihanna’s social media announced the new track, sending fans into a frenzy.
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‘Lift Me Up’ is a tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who played protagonist King T’Challa in the first Black Panther film and passed away after battling colon cancer in 2020. In a controversial decision by Marvel president Kevin Feige and director Ryan Coogler, T’Challa was not recast, and instead presumed dead in the upcoming sequel. Coogler, Oscar winner Ludwig Göransson and Tems have writing credits on the new track apart from Rihanna. The film’s complete soundtrack comes out November 4.
Rihanna’s last album, Anti, which reigned as No. 1 on the Billboard 200 charts for two weeks, released six years ago. ‘Lift Me Up’ thus marks the end of a prolonged and torturous wait. In February 2023, Rihanna will also return to live performances by headlining the Super Bowl 2023 Halftime Show. Earlier this month, Rihanna announced the return of the Savage x Fenty Show for its fourth volume. The show and collection come out on November 9 on Amazon Prime Video and the Amazon fashion store respectively. After what felt like an endless wait, Riri fans now have much to look forward to.
