Rihanna - 9th Album

The problem isn’t even Rihanna for me, it’s just a bad song.

Also browsing her Wiki, she apparently released a song in 2020?? Why are people saying it’s her first new music since Anti?
 
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The instrumental is cheap shit but it’s Rihanna, did we forget that “Diamonds” sounds tacky af.

I think it’s a sweet lullaby. Her vocals (!!!) are so good on it. Its not for most of my vibe but it’s a sweet little diddy…. “Sledgehammer” remains her best soundtrack single though.
 
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I get that the long LONG pauses she's been serving for the past decade have somehow pushed her into the stratosphere of mythical cool (and somehow made us tolerate Eminem of all people by proxy), but she's always been, at best, a phenomenally successful but just competent bop maker and an sub-average balladeer. Clown college curriculum, I fear. The absolute downward ride that was everything post-"Rated R", and then the long wait for "ANTI" when we got... that. I know it's a well-loved album here, but to me, felt aimless and like an death knell to her music career. Everything after that... is just a hobby of a make-up mogul. Excited to see what she'll cook up for SuperBowl, but... time for the balloon to pop.

Not this retroactive doom mongering and career revision because of one bad song...
 
Not a song I'll come back to, but it's ok. I was just happy to hear her voice again. She sounds great to me overall. The "liiiiiiìiift" parts do sound a bit flat, and I think the song would've been a better fit for someone with a more soulful voice, but I think she pulled
it off.
 
I generally enjoy a good RiRi ballad...and I appreciate the sentiment behind this obviously...but yeah. Hopefully there's an actual album on the horizon with something a bit more interesting.
 
The problem isn’t even Rihanna for me, it’s just a bad song.

Also browsing her Wiki, she apparently released a song in 2020?? Why are people saying it’s her first new music since Anti?
The 2020 song was a feature no one cared about. This is her first song as a lead artist since at least 2017 with Wild Thoughts given she was the main vocalist on that.

It’s cute for what it is, but this should’ve just been a little bonus when you went to go see the film / at the end of the soundtrack. Not billed as the return of a star.
 
If you see the song for what it is which it is a soundtrack tribute song to Chadwick Boseman and not as a comeback single for Rihanna then you appreciate it more . I like the song and she sounds great on it !
 
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I find "Lift Me Up" cute, there's definitely something charming about it and the melodies are rather pretty. I agree that the vocals feel overproduced, to the point of her barely sounding like herself during the verses but the instrumental is really pleasant.

As a comeback song though...

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If you see the song for what it is which it is a soundtrack tribute song to Chadwick Boseman and not as a comeback single for Rihanna then you appreciate more . I like the song and she sounds great on it !

What about it is actually a tribute song, though? They lyrics are a generic "look after me from heaven, granny" style, it's about the person left behind, not the person who's gone. So, it doesn't even work on that level.
 
What about it is actually a tribute song, though? They lyrics are a generic "look after me from heaven, granny" style, it's about the person left behind, not the person who's gone. So, it doesn't even work on that level.

If you feel that way fair enough but it was definitely intended to be seen as some sort of tribute song for him .
 
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