“She really can't sing anymore"—Rihanna's first song in 3 years ‘Friend of Mine’ met with fan backlash

Rihanna released her first new song in three years, Friend Of Mine, on May 16, 2025. The song is part of the soundtrack of the upcoming film Smurfs. The singer is voicing the character of Smurfette. Upon its release, the 3-minute and 25 second song was met with fan backlash, such as the tweets quoted below:

"oh she really can't sing no more..."

Other netizens were similarly disappointed, with many pointing out what they felt to be the failures of the song, while others simply bid farewell to Rihanna and her fandom over their disappointment with the new song:

"Rihanna needed 7 writers for Friend of Mine…I can’t take this anymore. 20 years in the Rihanna Navy and the disrespect I am given…" One fan reacted.

"Oh Rihanna… you either sold your voice to an AI company or they didn’t pay you enough for this movie so you said “Friend of Mine” into a mic once and they just copied and pasted it over a beat with an electronic filter because this Smurfs’ “song” was pure garbage." Another fan stated.

"Even lift me up was more listenable we in the trenches," one netizen stated.

One netizen further elaborated on the structure of the song and how it repeats the same line again and again:

"Friend of Mine just being that long a** intro, annoying instrumental, and the same line being repeated for three minutes. Girl bye @rihanna." Another netizen stated.

The Smurfs film will be released on July 18, 2025 and is being directed by Chris Miller. Rihanna is part of a cast that also includes James Corden, John Goodman, and Sandra Oh, among others.

Rihanna last released a single in 2022

Rihanna's previous single was all the way back in 2022, also as part of another film soundtrack. The single, Lift Me Up, was part of the soundtrack Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Music From and Inspired By.

In addition to starring in the upcoming film, the singer is also working on her first new album since 2016. The singer talked about her upcoming album in an exclusive interview with Harper's Bazaar on February 22, 2025, stating:

"I think music is my freedom. I just came to that realization. I just cracked the code on what I really want to do for my next body of work. I am actually feeling really good about this. I know I kept saying this over the years,"

About the wide speculations of which genre her next album will be, the singer stated,

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.’"

She further continued,

"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."

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Alongside her music and acting career, the singer is also set to give birth to her third baby sometime soon, with the singer revealing that she was pregnant at the 2025 Met Gala in New York City. The singer and her partner have two sons already, one born in 2021 and one in 2023.

The singer has so far released eight albums, with the singer being best known for albums such as Good Girl Gone Bad, Loud, and Anti. Anti was released in 2016 and is her latest studio album. Good Girl Gone Bad was reissued in 2008 as Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded.

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