Fans couldn’t be more excited over Rihanna’s return to music (Picture: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Rihanna is back, baby. After years of waiting, fans have finally been treated to brand first new music from the singer… and it’s safe to say, she has delivered.
Next month, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to be released across the world, returning to the fictional country following the death of Chadwick Boseman in August 2020, who played T’Challa in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
It was recently confirmed that Rihanna had recorded music for the film, and now that song has been released to the masses, revealing the Barbadian musician’s melodious voice over delicate strings in the song, titled Lift Me Up.
The track came with an accompanying instrumental track, as the 34-year-old also teased an upcoming music video in a short clip shared on social media.
The lyrics of the soulful tune Lift Me Up go: ‘Lift me up, hold me down, keep me close, safe and sound; Hold me when you go to sleep, keep me in the warmth of your love when you depart, keep me safe and sound.’
The Fenty founder previously shared a teaser for the song, which showed a large silver R’ surrounded by sentences in the fictional Wakandan alphabet, with a translation of ‘Rihanna’ and ‘Lift Me Up’ being shown underneath.
Lift Me Up can be found on a variety of music platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and Deezer.
The official music video is yet to be released, but a 34-second clip unveiled by Rihanna showed clips of her on a beach interweaved with scenes from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, featuring Angela Bassett, who plays T’Challa’s mother Ramonda; and Letitia Wright, who stars as T’Challa’s sister Shuri.
Reactions have been pouring in to Rihanna’s long-awaited return to music, with one person saying Lift Me Up was ‘stunning’ and ‘beautiful’.
The singer looked radiant at the world premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Picture: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
‘I openly wept – this is beautiful. Such a fitting tribute for our king,’ an emotional fan said.
‘This new song 🥹😭 chills the entire time,’ another person wrote, while someone else stated: ‘Song was beautiful!!!! Welcome back Queen!’
Rihanna’s music comeback is set to continue in spectacular form next year, when the star performs as the headliner of the Super Bowl halftime show, marking her first live performance in several years.
Rihanna attended the premiere with her boyfriend A$AP Rocky (Picture: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Rihanna honours the late Chadwick Boseman with her Black Panther song (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney)
She admitted to TMZ that she was ‘nervous’ but ‘excited’ over the event, having turned down the chance to sing at the halftime show in 2019 as a statement of solidarity with former US football player Colin Kaepernick.
While Rihanna hasn’t released new music in six years, she has been extremely busy, expanding her businesses, including Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty.
Earlier this year, she and her boyfriend, rapper ASAP Rocky, welcomed their first child.
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MORE : Rihanna made music for Black Panther 2 to honour Chadwick Boseman: ‘She made it very clear’
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‘Such a fitting tribute for our king,’ one fan wrote.