Rihanna Just Blessed Us With Her First New Song in Two Years, and the Internet Is Losing It

Listen, it’s not like I’ve been counting the days since the release of Rihanna’s last studio album, Anti, but if I were, it would be over 2,000—a.k.a. six long years—and more than 900 since she was featured on a song: PARTYNEXTDOOR’s “Believe It” in 2020.

Not expecting Rih’s new motherhood to speed up her production schedule, I had resigned myself to just driving around, listening to Anti for the rest of my life (not exactly a terrible punishment), until midnight on October 28, when the 34-year-old musician released “Lift Me Up.”

The new song, which leads the soundtrack for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, is a soft and vibe-y ballad that Rihanna co-wrote with Tems; the movie’s director, Ryan Coogler; and Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson in tribute to late Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman. It happens to be a lovely piece of music practically designed to be a major tearjerker, but honestly, Rihanna could cover “Happy Birthday” and I’d listen to it (in fact, when is that track dropping?). Below, find the very best social reactions to “Lift Me Up”: