Rihanna Lift me up

The Rihanna drought finally ends with a heartfelt but generic entry for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack.

[Tems](https://pitchfork.com/artists/tems/) and Panther writer-director Ryan Coogler as a tribute to the franchise’s late star, [Chadwick Boseman](https://pitchfork.com/news/black-panther-actor-chadwick-boseman-dead-at-43/). [Rihanna](https://pitchfork.com/artists/5310-rihanna/). “Lift Me Up” never transcends being perfectly fine soundtrack fodder, an analog to [Common](https://pitchfork.com/artists/806-common/) and [John Legend](https://pitchfork.com/artists/5848-john-legend/)’s Oscar-bait song “ [Glory](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUZOKvYcx_o).” But as an excuse to reintroduce an elusive pop icon, it’s all you need to stoke the masses. But outside of a [handful](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzCct3j-pH8) of [features](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gejbbL1AaJk), she’s been mostly quiet on the music front. Rihanna’s best songs run the gamut from [playful](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXmF4GbA86E) to [remorseful](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp4UwPZfRis) to [kiss-the-ring confident](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfN4PVaOU5Q), but they stand the test of time because of how her husky, indelible [voice](https://pitchfork.com/features/overtones/10052-is-rihanna-the-most-influential-pop-singer-of-the-past-decade/) slinks through every story and remakes it in her own image. The superstar has had a busy run since 2016’s [ANTI](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21540-anti/)—beefing up her Fenty clothing and makeup lines to become America’s youngest self-made billionaire, having a child, enduring a whole pandemic like the rest of us.