 Rihanna recorded the song , with vocal production by <unk> " Kuk " Harrell , in a Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles . Initially , Stewart admitted he was still reluctant as to whether Rihanna was the right artist to record the song , but following the recording of the " ella , ella " catch phrase , he felt they were onto " something " . Following Rihanna 's recording , Def Jam CEO @-@ rapper Jay @-@ Z added his rap . However , Jay @-@ Z rewrote his verse without the awareness of Stewart and Nash . Stewart could not understand it , but later realized it made " sense " instead of the first version . Stewart noted that " from a songwriter 's standpoint , he just really made it more about the song , with the metaphors about umbrellas and about the weather versus what he had before " . 
