Rihanna has officially broken her six-year hiatus today with a heartfelt ballad entitled “Lift Me Up”, a beautiful tribute to the late Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, who passed away from colon cancer in the summer of 2020.
The song will feature on the soundtrack of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which is coming out in theatres on November 11.
“Lift Me Up” was written in collaboration with producer Ludwig Göransson, the movie’s director Ryan Coogler and Nigerian superstar Tems. The latter said in a recent press release quoted by Pitchfork that, “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.”
RihRih is also due to resume her live shows in February 2023, when she will be headlining the Super Bowl Halftime Show, as it was recently revealed.
Although there hasn’t been any announcements on a potential ninth album, it is believed that the moment is due to arrive, as she has allegedly been working on a reggae album since 2018 according to Vogue at the time.
This year is one of the singer’s most important years of her life as she welcomed her first child together with A$AP Rocky back in May, recently became a national hero in Barbados and is now also making a comeback as a lead artist. How exciting!
Check out Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” ballad above now on GRM Daily!