Rihanna’s new single “Friend of Mine” has song of the summer written all over it, if you are like me, and only value tracks written for Smurf cartoons that aspire to be the next Trolls. I am sad to report to the haters that “Friend of Mine” is, unquestionably, a bop.
Since hearing the words “Rihanna is Smurfette” in 2023 I have been greatly anticipating Paramount Pictures’ new 3D-animated Smurfs movie, which is titled Smurfs (not to be confused with 2011’s The Smurfs). A welcome successor to the “Zendaya is Meechee” character-poster canon, “Rihanna is Smurfette” is really all I needed to know about yet another big-screen adaption of Peyo’s 67-year-old Belgian comic series, but it turns out Paramount also hired Rihanna to produce the film and write songs for the soundtrack — bonus.
The first trailer for the film landed in February and looked unexpectedly stylish. So maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that “Friend of Mine” goes incredibly hard. With all due respect to Maroon 5 and Pharrell and all the other acts who have sailed through the Despicable-Me-to-#1-pop-hit pipeline, this is how it’s done. That Rihanna looks like she just showed up to a Smurfs-themed runway show carrying a flower parasol is the icing on this blue-hued cake.
Couldn’t tell you a thing about the plot of Smurfs, or why there is a troupe of ninja-esque Smurfs smurfdancing behind Smurfette late in the video, but what I do know is “Rihanna is Smurfette” has delivered.
2025: Hatsune Miku is out, Smurfette is in.