Nearly seven years after releasing her album “Anti,” singer and songwriter Robyn Fenty, better known as Rihanna, is officially back with the release of her new song “Lift Me Up,” off the soundtrack of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” 

“Lift Me Up” is a tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman who passed away in 2020 after battling colon cancer. 

The song begins with Rihanna humming the soft melody before she launches into the powerful lyrics. Throughout the track, she alternates between her traditional low register and a higher, more fragile falsetto. During the song’s bridge, she slips into soft broken vocals, accompanied by a subtle background choir, before coming alive in the final chorus singing, “I need love, I need love, I need love.” 

“Lift Me Up” is not Rihanna. Rihanna is flashy and bold and brazen. This song is anything but. While the Barbadian singer has released ballads such as “Stay” and “Love on the Brain,” both of those songs are louder and angrier, filled with raw emotions and brutally honest lyrics. 

“Lift Me Up” invokes a more gentle, intimate tone as it reflects on the grief of losing someone you love; a fitting track for a movie that encompasses this very concept. 

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” will be the first film in the franchise to be released after the death of Boseman in 2020 and it will be a tribute to him and all that he contributed to the Black Panther franchise. 

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” premieres Nov. 11 and Rihanna is set to perform at the 2023 Super Bowl halftime show in February.