Rihanna is finally releasing new music, but not in the way you think - INTO
Troll Us

Rihanna is finally releasing new music, but not in the way you think

It’s been almost 10 years since the release of ANTI, Rihanna’s bop-filled 2016 album, and the world has been waiting breathlessly for more music from the iconic songstress and Fenty Beauty mogul ever since. Sadly for us, Bad Gal RiRi seems to have no intention of giving us an ANTI follow-up anytime soon. I mean…can you blame her? She just had two kids and is busy running a hugely successful business. So as far as we’re concerned, Rihanna can take all the time she needs. Yes, we miss her musical stylings and we can only listen to “Rude Boy” and “Kiss It Better” so many times, but it’s fine. We will survive.

And as fate would have it, Rihanna does plan on throwing us a bone in the form of new music next year—just not in the way anyone expected. Last night at CinemaCon, word dropped of Rihanna’s involvement in the upcoming The Smurf Movie. The diva herself will be replacing Katy Perry (honestly, thank God) as the voice of Smurfette, as well as writing and performing original songs for the film’s soundtrack.

Listen, I know what you’re thinking. The Smurf Movie soundtrack was not the Rihanna album we were expecting. But again…we’ll take it! Whatever the queen decides to give us we will accept with nary a quibble!

Still, the Internet—true to form—had plenty of The Other Two jokes to share to mark the occasion.

It might not be the album we were expecting, but maybe—just maybe!—it’s the album we need. Still, the people have some questions.

https://twitter.com/ShayneTheMane/status/1778509818678124925

RiRi is about to present us with the c*ntiest Smurfette in canon history, and for that, we are grateful.

https://twitter.com/ih8clif/status/1778573381610188803

If we know anything about Rihanna, it’s that she loves to troll us. And we love to be trolled by her!

https://twitter.com/KYRANKELSON/status/1778750113847886155

Can’t wait for The Smurf Movie to absolutely SWEEP the Best Original Song category at the 2026 Oscars.


Henry Giardina (he/they) is the editor of INTO. He lives in Los Angeles. Past publications include the New York Times, The Believer, The New Yorker, The Paris Review Daily, The Atlantic, Film Comment, and Gizmodo. He is @punkgroucho on Twitter.