Rihanna appears onstage during the 2019 BET awards at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California on 23 June 2019. (Photo by Jean-Baptiste LACROIX / AFP)
It has been years since the world has had new music from Rihanna and at this point, most fans have resigned themselves to the fact that day may never come. Their resignation runs so deep that most fans, who continue to love Rihanna, can’t believe that she will be releasing new music this coming Friday.
Last week, the internet was peppered with rumours that the singer would be releasing a new song that will be included on the soundtrack for the upcoming Black Panther sequel and the news was confirmed by a range of reputable outlets on Wednesday morning.
The song was teased on simple cover art featuring a metallic ‘R’ and the date 28 October 2022 written in the American mm/dd/yyyy format.
The cover art, originally posted on the Marvel Instagram account, was inspired by the style of the Wakanda Forever title screen.
Rihanna simply commented on Marvel’s post with two emojis; the emoji of the woman crossing her arms similar to the Wakandan salute from the film as well as a heart emoji.
Fans took to social media to joke about the fact that they don’t believe they’re finally getting new music.
According to Marvel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever follows Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba) as they fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death.
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“As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda,” said Marvel.
The film looks like it will focus heavily on the women of Wakanda and the integral role they will play in determining the future of their nation and the world at large.
The “feminine energy” of the film was also carried through in their music choices for the film.
In addition to managing to secure new music from Rihanna, Marvel put Zambian artist Sampa The Great in the spotlight by selecting her song ‘Never Forget’ featuring Chef 187, Tio Mason, and Mwanjé to feature in the film’s viral trailer.
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