The past few years has seen some iconic moments for Rihanna, including two epic pregnancy announcements — one at this year’s Met Gala and one during her 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show performance — and getting recognized for her fashion sense by none other than Anna Wintour. What we haven’t seen (or heard) much of from Rihanna, however, is new music. She just released her first song in years as part of the upcoming The Smurfs Movie’s soundtrack, and I’m dying over some of these fan reactions.
Rihanna is voicing the part of Smurfette in the upcoming kids movie, and just days after we got a trailer for The Smurf Movie, Rihanna has released the single “Friend of Mine.” The upbeat, synth-heavy song sounds like it was made for kid-friendly dance parties, which wasn’t what fans were expecting, but many of them were just relieved to hear new music from the artist. Comments on the YouTube video included:
- At this point, I’ll take it. – x.enigma
- It’s been 84 years… Been waiting since the dinosaurs roamed. But honestly, a crumb is a crumb. I’ll take it. She still sounds like magic. Worth every second. – Dor_Sel
- We’ll take what we can get😂 Even if it’s just a smurf song. – AsvpEveauX
- Don't know if I can call this a "song" but I'll take whatever I can get – ianr5055
No, those reactions aren’t exactly glowing with praise, but as they said, after two years, fans are willing to take whatever she’s serving. Rihanna’s previous release was “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in 2022, and that also came after multiple years of musical silence.
Many pointed out that “Friend of Mine” has the potential to be a summer club anthem, if not an earworm from the kids’ repeated playing of the soundtrack after seeing the movie, which hits the 2025 movie calendar in July. Lots of fans were also convinced that Rihanna is trolling us. They said:
- Riri said: yall said yall want music, yall ain’t say what kind 😂❤️ – IsyssAli
- She gave us 8 lines, 2 that were repeated and 1 that was super chopped lmao not clowning us 😂😭😭😭 – alain121191
- Wow Go Girl!!! Give us absolutely nothing – alitalipguzeldere
- We'll she's trolling at this point😅😅😅 WTF IS THIS?😂😂😂 – Rinnab
The Smurfs Movie has allowed Rihanna to do more than create new music. For one, her brand Savage X Fenty is putting out an undies line based on the animated blue creatures. She’s also hoping that lending her voice to the movie will earn her some cool points with her kids RZA and Riot, who she shares with A$AP Rocky. She’ll have to wait a bit for Baby No. 3 to be able to appreciate her skills though.
Check out “Friend of Mine” for yourself below and see if you agree with some of the reactions:
This may not be on par with some of Rihanna’s greatest hits in the eyes of fans, but when she’s only giving us one song every few years, I guess we’ll just have to be happy that we’re getting anything at all. You’ll be able to hear this tune loud and proud when The Smurfs Movie hits theaters on Friday, July 18.
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