Rihanna Earns First Oscar Nomination for Black Panther Soundtrack Single 'Lift Me Up'

Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” is a 2023 Academy Awards Nominee

It looks like 2023 is shaping up to be the year of Rihanna.

The Barbadian billionaire was already scheduled to headline Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12. Tuesday morning it was revealed that she has earned her first Oscar nomination.

Her song "Lift Me Up," the lead single from the soundtrack for the film "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," is contending for best original song at the 95th Academy Awards

Not bad for the first solo effort by the 34-year-old star on a track since 2016.

While Rihanna provided the vocals and took part in the writing process for the ballad, it was a team effort.

Singer-songwriter Tems, the film's director Ryan Coogler and composer Ludwig Goransson shared writing credits on the record and in the nomination. 

Tems is the first Nigerian musician to be nominated for an Oscar.

"Lift Me Up" was previously nominated for a Golden Globe but lost to "Naatu Naatu" from "RRR" in January.

The Academy Awards ceremony will be broadcast live on March 12 from the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.

Below is a complete list of the nominees for best original song.

Best Original Song

“Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman, Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

“Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick, Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop

“Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler

“Naatu Naatu” from RRR, Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose

“This Is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once, Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne

SZA Tops Billboard 200 for Sixth Consecutive Week

SZA, 33, has only released two studio albums in her short career, but the Grammy Award-winning artist's recent performance on the Billboard album chart has her name being mentioned alongside some of music's greats.

"SOS" sold the equivalent of 119,000 units in the United States last week according to music data tracker Luminate. It was enough to keep "SOS" on top of the Billboard 200 for the sixth consecutive week since its Dec. 7 release — a feat matched only by icons Adele and Taylor Swift in the last decade.

Janet Jackson's 1993 release "Janet" was the last R&B release by a woman to top the chart for its first six weeks according to Billboard. SZA's run at the top is the longest for an R&B artist since Usher’s “Confessions” spent nine weeks atop the chart in 2004.

Born Solána Imani Rowe in St. Louis, Missouri, SZA's art takes unique inspiration from a childhood spent in New Jersey, where she was raised by her devout Muslim father and a Christian mother.

Citing Ella Fitzgerald and Lauryn Hill among her key musical influences, the artists whose acronym — taken from the Nation of Islam's Supreme Alphabet — stands for Sovereign (modified from Savior) Zig-Zag Allah, self-released her first EP "See.SZA.Run" in 2012.

After signing with RCA Records she released her critically-acclaimed studio debut "Ctrl" in 2017. It premiered at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and earned SZA four Grammy nominations. Time magazine gave it the nod over rapper Kendrick Lamar's equally praised release, "Damn," for best album of the year.

BMG Sues Bratz Dollmaker for $10 Million, Alleging it Ripped-off Black Eyed Peas to Promote Pooping Unicorns

The company that owns the rights to one of the Black Eyed Peas' biggest hits is suing MGA Entertainment Inc, maker of the once pervasively popular Bratz dolls, for $10 million dollars. 

BMG Rights Management filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court on Thursday alleging the toy company ripped off the group's Grammy Award-winning song "My Humps" to promote the dancing and slime-pooping unicorn dolls from its "Poopsie Slime Surprise" toy line.

The suit, which describes the Black Eyed Peas as "arguably the most popular and recognized pop music group in the past 30 years," states that MGA's toys sing a song called "My Poops," a thinly veiled unauthorized homage to the group's 2005 posterior-focused hit.

In addition to having its toys sing the song, BMG said MGA placed a sticker on the packaging of the dolls that "excrete sparkling slime"  directing consumers to dance to the song and a company-made video for it that was posted on YouTube.

The video features animated versions of the toys dancing and singing along to "My Poops," while a singer whose voice bears a strong resemblance to former Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie belts out the tune.

BMG, which owns 75% of the "My Humps" composition copyright, has asked the court for at least $10 million in damages, alleging that MGA earned tens of millions of dollars in part because of it use of the double-platinum booty-based Billboard Hot 100 (No. 3). hit. 

Click here to read a copy of the full complaint.