Thursday night saw the release of “Lift Me Up,” the main track from Marvel’s highly anticipated sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which was Rihanna’s first single in six years.
The song was composed as an homage to Chadwick Boseman’s life and legacy by Rihanna, Tems, top film composer Ludwig Goransson, and director Ryan Coogler. One of the two songs from the movie, which had its theatrical debut on November 11, is this one.
Few other details regarding the song or the soundtrack album, which Rihanna is reportedly curating in a manner much to how Kendrick Lamar oversaw the music to the first movie, have been made public.
“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 in a statement. “I tried to imagine what it would feel like if I could sing to them now and express how much I miss them.”
She added: “Rihanna has been an inspiration to me so hearing her convey this song is a great honour.”
Rihanna has made just a handful of featured appearances in the years since her last album, 2016’s ‘Anti’ — most notably features on N.E.R.D.’s ‘Lemon’, which she briefly performed with Pharrell at her Diamond Ball in New York in 2019; Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Loyalty’ and Future’s ‘Selfish’ — yet in February she will be the halftime performer on the world’s largest stage for a musician, the Super Bowl, notes ‘Variety’.
There has been talk for years about her working on two different albums, one a dancehall-leaning set, but she has provided virtually no details and no music has materialised or leaked.
(inputs from IANS)