Songfacts®:

• "Friend of Mine" is a happy-sounding Afrobeats-inspired dance track where Rihanna meets someone and instantly feels like she's known them for years. It's a lovely sensation - déjà vu without the spooky undercurrent.
• The song debuted on May 16, 2025, as the flagship single for the Smurfs animated film. Rihanna voices Smurfette and is a producer on the project.
  
  In this cinematic outing, Smurfette and her diminutive blue colleagues set off to rescue Papa Smurf from the clutches of evil wizards.
• "Friend Of Mine" was Rihanna's first song in nearly three years. The Fenty mogul's previous release was the October 2022 hit "Lift Me Up," which she recorded for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack.
• The track came together during a songwriting camp in the summer of 2024 hosted by Jon Bellion at his holiday home in the Hamptons. Bellion, a seasoned producer known for his work with Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus and Maroon 5, co-wrote and produced the track alongside Pete Nappi and Fallen, both members of Bellion's Beautiful Mind collective. Additional writing credits go to Elijah Noll, Elkan, Tenroc, and Rihanna.
• Despite its minimalist lyrics - largely centered around the titular refrain "Feel like a friend of mine" - the track's emotional core, Bellion told Billboard, lies in how it "feels" rather than what it "says."
  
  The aim was to create something memorable and joyful that resonates through mood and tone rather than narrative complexity. Rihanna referred to the track as "weird" and "happy," noting that it was important to offer kids (and adults) a song with a fresh energy.
• Bellion noted that the song's major chords and positive message are unusual for a dance record tied to a children's movie, but it's a perfect fit for the Smurfs project.
  
  "From a product standpoint, I don't think you get such major chords and such a positive (message) over a dance record that doesn't sound like a kids movie too often," he told Billboard. "So when do you nail the feel-good, family-friendly, high-taste, deep '90s nostalgia, that can also be played into the kids movie? Shoot it out into the world!"
• The music video, directed by Chris Miller and Andrew Hebert, doubles down on the whimsy, with kaleidoscopic visuals, candy-colored landscapes, and Smurfs that dance with a kind of unhinged joy rarely seen outside birthday parties for the under-7s. Rihanna, appearing as Smurfette, is integrated into the animated Smurfs' village.