"Even Lift Me Up was more listenable" — Internet divided over Rihanna's “Friend Of Mine” soundtrack from "Smurfs"

On May 15, 2025, Rihanna released her new song, Friend of Mine, for the upcoming Smurfs movie soundtrack. The singer will reportedly voice Smurfette in the animated film, which is scheduled for release on July 18.

Friend of Mine was released alongside an accompanying video on YouTube. The MV features Rihanna twirling a flower umbrella and walking into a Smurf house, which then cuts to animated Smurfette singing and dancing surrounded by other Smurfs.

“Just met you tonight, but you feel like a friend of mine / Feel like a friend of mine, feel like a friend of mine / Like a friend of mine, feel like a friend of mine,” Rihanna sings in the new song.

Friend of Mine received divisive reviews on X, considering this was Rihanna's first song in a long time. Some fans seemed let down by the song, with one user implying it was worse than her track Lift Me Up for the 2022 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever film soundtrack.

"Even lift me up was more listenable we in the trenches."

Several netizens agreed with this sentiment, claiming they were not impressed.

"Unrelease it please," one person tweeted.

"Baby I think u better not release an album. If u gonna make this kinda music," another person added.

"Love Rihanna…this isn’t it for me… but then again I’m not the target audience clearly …" someone else commented.

"After starving us for about a decade this what you released.. Im not impressed Rihana. you gotta do better.. what’s this?!" another user questioned.

However, others defended the song, adding that it was targeted towards the children, with Smurfs being a movie for kids.

"Girl imma have this on loop until the next singles come out-" one fan posted.

"So she can’t do nun for the kids? Yall weird af with these comments smh," another person added.

"So sweet your two sons will love the cartoon and the music . Thanks for putting your children first the rest can go to he.ll if they don’t like it love u riri," another fan said.

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Rihanna's new song is her first music in almost three years

Rihanna's new song for the upcoming Smurfs movie, Friend of Mine, marks the singer's first music in nearly three years. Her last musical offering was for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack in 2022. Rihanna has not released an album since her 2016 LP, Anti.

However, the singer has been teasing a new album for the past few months. In a February 2025 interview with Harper's Bazaar, the Fenty Beauty founder revealed that she had started work on her ninth album, explaining why she had taken an unofficial hiatus from music.

“There's no genre now. That's why I waited. Every time, I was just like, ‘No, it's not me. It's not right. It's not matching my growth. It's not matching my evolution. I can't do this. I can't stand by this. I can't perform this for a year on tour’."

Rihanna added that she wanted to create music that mattered and was worth the wait. As of this article, the singer has not yet revealed a name or release date for the highly anticipated album.

"After a while, I looked at it, and I was like, this much time away from music needs to count for the next thing everyone hears. It has to count. It has to matter. I have to show them the worth in the wait. I cannot put up anything mediocre. After waiting eight years, you might as well just wait some more."

Meanwhile, the Umbrella singer has lent her voice to the Smurfs movie, joining a cast that includes James Corden, Sandra Oh, Nick Offerman, and Octavia Spencer, among others. According to IMDb, the new Smurfs movie will see Smurfette leading the Smurfs in a mission to rescue Papa Smurf from evil wizards.

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On a personal front, Rihanna revealed that she is expecting her third child with her longtime partner, A$AP Rocky, during her appearance at the Met Gala on May 5, 2025.