Rihanna has released her first solo track in six years, and it’s a melancholy tribute song.
Lift Me Up has been written for the forthcoming film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever film and is dedicated to the late Chadwick Boseman.
The track, which runs at just over three minutes, is not what fans might have initially been expecting from the Barbados-born singer’s first single after years. Lift Me Up is slow and heartfelt: Rihanna sings over pared-back strings, and the lyrics are equally emotional.
“Lift me up, hold me down, keep me close, safe and sound,” she sings. “Hold me when you go to sleep, keep me in the warmth of your love when you depart, keep me safe and sound.”
Since its release in the early hours of the morning, fans have been pouring online to share how much the song has been affecting them, and most people it seems both love the song and have been moved by it.
“Rihanna’s Lift Me Up is such a beautiful song! What a way to come out of a 6 year music retirement!” Tweeted one fan, while another said, “Lift me up has me crying the queen is back!!”
“Lift me up made me realize how much the music industry was just missing that rihanna element since 2016,” said a third fan, while a fourth said: “6 years of no Rihanna & she releases this beautiful song Lift Me Up. I am feeling so blessed right now.”
LIFT ME UP HAS ME CRYING😭 THE QUEEN IS BACK!! #Rihanna #LiftMeUp 😭 pic.twitter.com/zGO1PNcHO9
— STAN!! (@oliviacabello17) October 28, 2022
Rihanna wrote Lift Me Up with Nigerian singer-songwriter Tems, Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson (who composed the original score of both Black Panther and its second instalment) and with the film’s director Ryan Coogler.
Speaking about the song, Tems said: “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.”
At the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever world premiere in California this week, Coogler explained that he believed that Boseman, who played the film’s leading character T’Challa, and who died in 2020 of cancer, was the impetus for Rihanna’s involvement in the project.
He said that “a lot of improbable things needed to happen for [the song] to come through” and that “Rihanna was very clear that she did that for him.”
British actor Michaela Coel, who plays Aneka in the forthcoming Black Panther film said: “It’s kind of incredible because Rihanna doesn’t make music for any old person or project, so it’s huge.”
The full soundtrack is set to be released on November 4, one week before the film is released in cinemas. An instrumental version of Lift Me Up has also been released.
Rumours had been swirling about Rihanna’s potential involvement in the Black Panther soundtrack for weeks after it was revealed that parts of the project were set to be released by Westbury Road as well as by Marvel and Disney. Westbury Road is Rihanna’s own Record Label.
The release of Lift Me Up is particularly momentous for Rihanna fans, who have been waiting for new music from the singer for years.
Although there is currently no further news about her long-awaited ninth album, in September Rihanna announced that she would perform at the Super Bowl halftime show, which predictably caused a wave of chatter online. Will she release a new album before then (the Super Bowl is in February so there’s plenty of time) or will she sing a medley of old hits?
Rihanna has been anything but idle since the release of her last album in 2016. Not only has she had a child, but she expanded her billion-dollar beauty line Fenty Beauty, starred in TV shows and films, including 2018’s Oceans 8, and became a cultural ambassador to Barbados.
