Rihanna’s Black Panther Single Is Out And It Has An Unexpected Sound
Rihanna's single for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, "Lift Me Up", is available to listen to online and sounds like nothing she's ever done before.
On Friday Rihanna released “Lift Me Up”, her single for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s soundtrack, and it’s a breed apart from from the party favorites we’re used to from the singer. Unlike bangers like “Umbrella” and “Don’t Stop the Music”, “Lift Me Up” is a hauntingly gorgeous song dedicated to the late star Chadwick Boseman. It will be the lead single for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — Music From and Inspired By.
As noted by CNN, “Lift Me Up” was co-written by Rihanna, Nigerian singer-songwriter Tems, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever writer/director Ryan Coogler, and Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson who won the Oscar for Best Score for 2018’s Black Panther. If it were to appear outside the frame of the upcoming Marvel movie, it might come off simply as a sentimental love song. But with the memory of Boseman touching every part of the movie, including the music, its impact is that much more powerful.
“Lift Me Up” often sounds like a prayer directly from Rihanna to the late Black Panther star, with the chorus of “Lift me up/Hold me down/Keep me safe/Safe and sound.” It ends with lyrics sounding like a prayer not for Rihanna but for the world: “Hold me, hold me/We need light, we need love.”
You can see at least what is likely part of Ryan Coogler’s touch in the lyrics. Midway through the song, Rihanna sings she’s “Drowning in an endless sea,” referencing not only the conflict between Wakanda and Namor (Tenoch Huerta) in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but the final wishes of the tragic Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) in the previous film.
Rihanna’s release of the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever song is not only good news for Marvel fans, but downright historical news for the Rihanna Navy aka the singer’s diehard fans. The Barbadian star hasn’t released a studio album since 2016’s Anti, which won her three Top 10 hits on the Billboard Top 100. While she’s recorded collaborations with other artists since then, “Lift Me Up” marks her first solo single since Anti.
As Billboard suggests, Rihanna’s contribution to the second Black Panther film is part of a broader comeback for the singer. Along with the release of “Lift Me Up,” Rihanna will break her long break from performing when she headlines the Super Bowl Halftime Show on February 12, 2023. She has yet to officially announce a follow-up to Anti, but one might guess some time between now and her Super Bowl appearance would be a good time to make such an announcement.
As far as we know Rihanna won’t be appearing in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (but with the surprises Marvel blockbusters unveil, who can say?), but even while she’s taken a break from the stage she’s been building her acting resume. Rihanna landed a role in two episodes of the horror drama Bates Motel, she was part of the impressive ensemble for Luc Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, and was one of the heroic thieves of 2018’s Ocean ‘s Eight. Most recently she appeared opposite Donald Glover in the musical Guava Island.
