Rihanna is inarguably one of the biggest names in music today. She’s achieved more at the age of 35 than most people will in a lifetime. The Barbadian powerhouse has charted the third-most No. 1 hits on the Hot 100, behind only The Beatles and Mariah Carey. She’s sold millions of albums, toured the world, headlined the Super Bowl (just last month, in fact), and won nine Grammys. And now, she might just add an Academy Award to her long list of accomplishments.
The singer, songwriter, and business mogul is currently nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar for “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The chart-topper sings the tune, but she also co-wrote it along with Ludwig Göransson (who composed the score), rising African musician Tems, and the film’s director Ryan Coogler, who are all potential winners as well.
When it was announced that Rihanna had recorded a song for the Black Panther sequel, it seemed like everyone in the world freaked. Not only was this a chance for an Oscar nomination–which came true–but it was labeled as something of a comeback. The artist had been relatively quiet on the music front, and fans had been begging for something new for years.
But how did the team behind Black Panther: Wakanda Forever sign one of the most popular musical stars on the planet, bring her back from semi-retirement, and earn an Oscar nod in the process? Well, it wasn’t easy.
“Whenever you go after big artists, it’s not going happen in a week,” explained Dave Jordan, Marvel’s go-to music executive and the music supervisor on both Black Panther films during a recent interview. “It always takes months because there’s layers of people you have to go through.”
It’s hard to reach Rihanna. Yes, she’s a star, but there’s more to it than that. Simply put, she’s BUSY. She’s not focused on music at the moment, but it’s not as if she’s relaxing. She runs a billion-dollar business with Fenty Beauty. She has her Savage X Fenty lingerie line. Oh, and shortly before recording “Lift Me Up,” she became a mother for the first time.
Jordan says that he and his team, along with Göransson, began the conversation with Rihanna’s people early on, though for months, there was no word. But despite the odds, they persisted.
“We knew that we had something very special, and if we could just show her the film,” Jordan started. Thankfully, that’s exactly what happened. When Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was almost done, the singer got to see it, and that’s what sealed the deal.
“By the time we showed her the movie, it was pretty clear what the vision was,” Jordan remembered. He says that it was helpful that the original Black Panther was already a beloved title, as it meant Rihanna wasn’t going off of a treatment, a discussion, or even a script, which can often be the case with musicians who are asked to create original songs for films. “She saw the movie in New York, if I remember correctly and was all in, immediately,” Jordan revealed.
Amazingly, Rihanna didn’t end up recording one song as her comeback as was initially intended, she created two. “Lift Me Up” was the smash of the pair–it peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100–but shortly after that cut dropped, she also released “Born Again” as she loved the process. Both pieces are beautiful, but the main track, which is receiving the bulk of the attention and love, is notably understated and soft. It works brilliantly in the film as a tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, the original Black Panther.
Jordan explained that Rihanna stayed up all night in the studio recording the soundtrack’s lead single. “Lift Me Up” was partially written by Coogler and Göransson as they traveled to Nigeria to work on the score, but Tems and Rihanna later added their own contributions, rounding out the track. The singer even had her newborn by her side as she completed the hit, balancing being a musical star and a mother. The song has meaning for the movie, sure, but also for fans of Boseman, and for Rihanna herself as a new mom.
While she did end up on the tune, Rihanna was never a sure thing, and there was a real chance she wouldn’t have been able to make it work. I asked Jordan if there were names considered as backups, if Rihanna ended up passing, but he said that it was all about her, no matter what. “We’re just going make it happen. It just has to happen,” he insisted the thinking went at the time, adding, “It’s just destiny.”
Now, the four talents behind “Lift Me Up” are waiting to see if they’ll win an Oscar. Touching on his thoughts regarding how Marvel movies aren’t often contenders at the biggest award show in the world, Jordan says, “I can talk forever about how superhero movies don’t get the respect they deserve,” before letting that idea trail off. He ended his thought with a simple statement: “All we can do is our best work.”
Describing his disbelief that he and his colleagues were able to not only get Rihanna on board, but that the song turned out as spectacularly as it did, and then earned an Oscar nomination to top it all off, Jordan was nearly speechless. “I just pinch myself,” he admitted, adding, “These things just don’t happen.” But to Rihanna, Coogler, Tems, Göransson, and Jordan, they do.
