 " If I Never See Your Face Again " was originally intended to be a duet with Janet Jackson and appear on her <unk> album , although label problems <unk> . The collaboration with Rihanna later came to fruition when Levine asked her to add her vocal to the remix version , which she accepted . " If I Never See Your Face Again " is a pop and R & B song featuring instrumentation provided by synthesizers and a guitar . The song received a mixed response from music critics , who praised the song 's composition but criticized Levine and Rihanna 's vocal performance . The song 's accompanying music video was directed by Anthony Mandler and shot on an indoor soundstage in <unk> , California . The concept for the video was " high @-@ end <unk> " . 
