As a wise woman once said: the wait is over. Well, almost.
Six years since the release of her last solo single, it looks like Rihanna is finally set to make her return to the music scene later this week.
And it’s no ordinary comeback, either, with the chart-topping star seemingly set to release a single for the soundtrack to the upcoming Black Panther sequel Wakanda Forever.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Marvel Studios shared an animated teaser for highly-anticipated blockbuster, which hits cinemas next month.
The clip places particular emphasis on the letter “R”, using a similar typeface that Rihanna has featured as her logo since her 2009 album Rated R, before showing this Friday’s date.
It didn’t take long for fans to work out that it looks like we’re just two days away from new Rihanna music, and to say they (and, for that matter, we) are excited would be a huge understatement:
Rihanna has largely been absent from the music scene since the release of her 2016 album Anti, which spawned singles including Work, Kiss It Better and Love On The Brain.
In the years since, she has been focussing mostly on her makeup, lingerie and skincare businesses, and earlier this year welcomed her first child with fellow musician A$AP Rocky.
However, she has popped up on tracks every now and then, including the 2017 DJ Khaled collaboration Wild Thoughts, Kendrick Larmar’s song Loyalty and PartyNextDoor’s 2020 single Believe It.
Next year, she’ll perform live during the Super Bowl Half-Time show, following in the footsteps of fellow singers Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and The Weeknd.
The first Black Panther film was released in 2018, and was accompanied by a soundtrack album curated by Kendrick Lamar, which included the Oscar-nominated SZA collab All The Stars.