Rihanna is back with her first solo track in six years, and it’s iHeartRadio’s latest World Premiere.
On Friday, October 28, the 9x Grammy award winner released “Lift Me Up” off the official soundtrack for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The song acts as a tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman that was co-written by Tems, Ludwig Göransson, Ryan Coolger and Rihanna herself. It was recorded in five countries and is produced by Göransson. Along with “Lift Me Up,” Rihanna also has another ballad on the soundtrack, “Born Again.” Both songs will appear during the film’s beginning and end credits.
“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,” Tems said about the record. “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 honor.”
“Lift Me Up” is Rihanna’s first solo single since 2016 when she delivered her ANTI album. The album contains hit songs like “Work” featuring Drake, “Needed Me” “Love On The Brain,” “Kiss It Better” and “Sex With Me” which appears on the deluxe version. Since then, RiRi teamed up with other artists for songs like N.E.R.D.’s “Lemon” (2017), DJ Khaled’s “Wild Thoughts” (2017) and PARTYNEXTDOOR’s “Believe It” (2020).
The singer from Barbados has been teasing her ninth studio album for years at this point. After she dropped ANTI, Rihanna became focused on her array of businesses like Fenty Beauty, Savage X Fenty, and other ventures. The income from all of her brands landed her on Forbes’ coveted billionaires list last year. In addition to all of her accolades, she also became a mother for the first time earlier this year when she welcomed her baby boy alongside her boyfriend A$AP Rocky.
Listen to Rihanna’s new song on iHeartRadio now!
