PartyNextDoor & Rihanna – “Believe It”
Once upon a time, Rihanna was one of the most dependable artists in all of pop music. You could count on her to, without fail, crank out a new album every year. Those days are gone. ANTI, Rihanna’s last album, is now more than four years old. Until this morning, Rihanna hadn’t even shown up on anyone else’s song since 2017,when she did “Lemon” with N.E.R.D. She’s supposedly been working on a dancehall album, though we shouldn’t hold our breath on that one. But today, for the first time in a few years, we get to hear Rihanna sing on a new song.
Today, PartyNextDoor, the Toronto R&B singer and Drake protege, has come out with his new album Partymobile. PND himself has been missing in action for a while; his last record was the 2017 EP Seven Days. Last year, PND came back with two singles, “The News” and the Drake collab “Loyal.” Both of those songs are on the album, and there’s also a “Loyal” remix that has Bad Bunny as well as Drake. But the big news is the Rihanna collaboration “Believe It.” It’s PartyNextDoor’s first actual Rihanna collaboration, even though he co-wrote her ANTI bangers “Work” and “Sex With Me.”
Compared to those tracks, “Believe Me” is pretty low-key. It’s an airy R&B track with acoustic guitars and tricky percussion; PartyNextDoor co-wrote it with producers NinetyFour, Bizness Boi, and Cardiak. PartyNextDoor and Rihanna play two people in a couple struggling to resolve trust issues. Rihanna doesn’t get a verse; she mostly just sings the hook and backup vocals. Check it out below.
You can also stream all of Partymobile below, if you like.
Partymobile is out now on OVO Sound/Warner.