It’s taken years, but Rihanna finally released a new song Friday (May 16) — “Friend of Mine,” recorded for the upcoming Smurfs movie in which she voices Smurfette.
Featuring the Fenty mogul singing over a happy-sounding Afrobeats-inspired dance track, complete with warm synths and rhythmic drums. A snippet of “Friend of Mine” was first premiered in a trailer for the Smurfs film two days prior to the song’s release, showing Ri’s animated blue character singing and dancing to the track in Smurf Village.
“Friend of Mine” will appear on the Smurfs soundtrack, along with DJ Khaled, Cardi B and DESI TRILL’s “Higher Love,” which dropped in February. Tyla is also set to contribute music to the film, which hits theaters July 18.
Also starring John Goodman, James Corden, Nick Offerman, Sandra Oh and more, the new Smurfs will follow the residents of Smurf Village banding together to rescue Papa Smurf after he is captured by an evil wizard. In addition to voice acting and recording a song for the project, Ri also served as a producer.
When announcing the film back in 2023 at CinemaCon, Rihanna — who was then pregnant with second son Riot Rose — told the crowd, “I get to show up in my PJs in my third trimester … I hope this gives me cool points with my kids one day.”
The superstar is now going to be a mother of three, with Ri debuting her baby bump at the 2025 Met Gala on May 5. She and partner A$AP Rocky are also parents to oldest son RZA.
“Friend of Mine” marks Ri’s first release since 2022’s “Lift Me Up” for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack. She last dropped an album in 2016, with Anti spending two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 that year.
Listen to “Friend of Mine” below.
