Rihanna Rumored to Have Recorded Two Songs for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Marvel’s Black Panther movie was as acclaimed for its Grammy-winning and chart-topping soundtrack as it was for the film itself. With that legacy on the table, the sequel film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has a lot to live up to, sonically speaking, and word is that Rihanna could be lending Marvel her talents to help get it there! Multiple reports have surfaced that Rihanna is going to be dropping one or two new songs for the Black Panther 2 soundtrack – including the all-important end credits song! 

NY Times reporter Kyle Buchanan is the latest to report that Rihanna is doing the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack, as stated in a Twitter post: 

“Rumors are flying and I can add to them: I’ve been hearing for weeks that Rihanna is recording the end-credits song for BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER. How do you follow up a classic like “All the Stars”? By snagging Rihanna’s first big song in years.”

This comes on the heels of Hits Daily Double’s rumor mill reporting, which went on to claim that Rihanna is in fact doing two songs for Black Panther 2‘s soundtrack. It’s also being reported that Marvel and Disney partner with Westbury Road/Roc Nation/Def Jam Records to release another “inspired by” album for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, like the first film did with Black Panther: The Album, which was curated by Kendrick Lamar. That concept album produced smash hit songs like “Pray for Me” and “All the Stars”, along with secondary hits like “The Ways”, “Black Panther”, and the Grammy-winning track “King’s Dead”. Marvel following suit with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever seems like an obvious choice. 

Rihanna has not released solo music as a leading artist since the late 2010s; in that “downtime” time she has launched many successful businesses and brands – including Westbury Road, her own through Roc Nation (which is owned by Shawn Carter/Jay-Z through Def Jam). If rumors are true, it could suggest that Rihanna will have a larger hand in curating the music of Black Panther 2 beyond whatever new tracks she releases for the film. 

She would arguably be a perfect choice of the conceptual composer: the Caribbean-born singer has all the brew of musical influences that composer (and director Ryan Coogler’s collaborator) Ludwig Göransson is playing with for the film’s score. That would entail the mix of African, Latin American, and hip-hop influences that will help at dramatic grandeur to Wakanda’s war with the undersea kingdom of Talocan, from Aztec legend. 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be in theaters on November 11th.