Rihanna, who hasn’t had a solo song release after 2016, reminded us today why she’s a force to reckon with. The 34-year-old singer has shared her new solo number, Lift me up, which will feature in the upcoming Marvel film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Lift me up is a soothing song with a lullaby feel and a chorus that goes, ‘Lift me up/Hold me down/Keep me close/Safe and sound’. The melancholic track was released on YouTube today with an audio version, a lyrics video and a visualiser video. The song marks Rihanna’s first single in six years. Her last solo album, Anti, came out in 2016.
The nine-time Grammy winner announced the song via a reel on her Instagram on October 28. The reel shows glimpses of the actors from the film performing a traditional dance and Letitia Wright’s character Shuri looking sorrowfully at something.
Lift me up will be a tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who played the title role of Black Panther/ T’Challa in the 2018 film Black Panther and who passed away in August 2020 at the age of 43 from colon cancer.
Rihanna also attended the Los Angeles premiere of the Ryan Coogler-directed Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on Wednesday with her rapper boyfriend A$AP Rocky. The film will release at cinemas on November 11.
