For years, fans have been begging Rihanna to record new music, and she’s finally giving the people what they want… well, sort of.
At midnight, the Grammy Award-winning singer released her first new song in nearly three years, titled “Friend of Mine,” and it serves as a single from the upcoming musical Smurfs film, in which RiRi will also voice Smurfette.
“‘Friend Of Mine’ from the #SmurfsMovie soundtrack iz out now!! 🩵,” Rihanna wrote on Instagram. “Check out the video on YouTube!”
The last time we got new music from Rihanna was also for a soundtrack cut in 2022, when she released “Lift Me Up” in support of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The track went on to receive nominations for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes.
And while it’s not the music we really want, any new music from Rihanna is a good thing, and so fans have had quite the humorous reactions to the Smurfs cut on social media. When the singer shared a snippet from the “Friend of Mine” video to her Instagram, one user wrote, “Get in that studio, I’ve had it.” Meanwhile, another joked, “She said we will get lullabies and we are getting kiddie songs 😂😍 love you @badgalriri.”
Some were simply happy to have Rihanna recording anything again—even if that means we won’t see a new solo studio album for quite some time (she is pregnant again, after all). “Girl at this point we’ll take what we can get i guess,” one fan Tweeted, while another commented on Instagram, “Now everyone say THANK YOU MOTHA.”
You can check out the full “Friend of Mine” video below.
Back in February, when Rihanna graced the cover of Harper’s Bazaar, she opened up about working on her ninth studio album, saying, “I think music is my freedom. I just came to that realization. I just cracked the code on what I really want to do for my next body of work. I am actually feeling really good about this. I know I kept saying this over the years.”
She continued, “I’ve been in the studio the whole eight years. But it didn’t hit me. I was searching for it. I went through phases of what I wanted to do. ‘This kind of album, not that album.’ I know it’s not going to be anything that anybody expects. And it’s not going to be commercial or radio digestible. It’s going to be where my artistry deserves to be right now. I feel like I’ve finally cracked it, girl!”
Whenever R9 does arrive, it will have been worth the wait. For now, Smurfs it is.
