To say that Rihanna's fans have been hungry for new music would be a severe understatement. It's been almost 10 years since the pop icon released her 8th album, Anti, which many consider to be her magnum opus. Since then, her musical output has been painfully sparse.

While there's still no news about the mythical R9, the Rihanna Navy can at least get excited about the fact that earlier today, she took to Twitter to announce her brand new song, "Friend of Mine".

The song will be part of the soundtrack for the upcoming Smurfs movie, which is set to hit theaters July 18. The trailer for the film features snippets of the new track, which finds Rihanna singing over an upbeat Afrobeat track with a warbly falsetto.

Rihanna will also voice the role of Smurfette in the film. She stars alongside the likes of John Goodman, James Corden, Nick Offerman, and Sandra Oh. The soundtrack is equally star-studded; in addition to Rihanna, artists such as Tyla, DJ Khaled, and Cardi B are contributing music to the film.

"Friend of Mine" is set to come out this Friday, May 16. It's the first new music Rihanna has put out since 2022's "Lift Me Up", which she released as part of the soundtrack to a different summer blockbuster, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

The release of "Friend of Mine" will be a bittersweet moment for Rihanna fans, who will finally have new music but will be no closer to a new album. The last update fans got about R9 came this past February during an interview withHarper's Bazaar, in which Rihanna told the publication that she's been in the studio this whole time and has just been waiting for the right album to come together:

"I know it’s not going to be anything that anybody expects. And it’s not going to be commercial or radio digestible. It’s going to be where my artistry deserves to be right now. I feel like I’ve finally cracked it, girl!”