 However , since it was the Grammy season of 2007 , Stewart and Nash eyed American R & B singer Mary J. Blige for the demo . Upon calling them to set the record aside for Rihanna , Stewart had played it to an associate of Blige , subsequently promising the song to her . Having heard the move of the writers , Kwak began calling Stewart and his manager , Mark Stewart , incessantly . Meanwhile , considering Blige 's nominations at the Grammys , Stewart and Nash agreed to wait for her response . However , Blige failed to hear the song in full due to her obligations to the Grammys at the time and " had to sign off on the record before her reps could accept it " . Finally , Reid " stepped in , trading on his power @-@ broker status and longstanding relationship with Stewart " , and admits , " I made the producers an offer they couldn 't refuse . " By the time Reid had successfully persuaded Stewart 's camp , they " just couldn 't say no " . On giving up the record to Reid 's camp , Mark Stewart comments , " We knew Rihanna 's album would be out in a few months . Mary wasn 't even in an album cycle yet . We made the sensible business decision . " 
