 According to Daniels , Rock City knew Sham but they had not heard the West Indian / Caribbean @-@ themed music that he had composed during the camp . Sham played the music to them , to which the brothers responded " Let 's give Rihanna a one @-@ drop ! Like , a response to ' I shot the sheriff ' ! " Together , Sham and Rock City wrote the lyrics to " Man Down " in twelve minutes . In an MTV News interview , Rock City said they intended to write a song that would embody Bob Marley 's " I Shot the Sheriff " ( 1973 ) from a female perspective and to " tap [ Rihanna 's ] island origins in a way that sounded authentic " . Singer Shontelle said that Rihanna called her during the Last Girl on Earth tour and asked her to be involved with the song . She confirmed that Rihanna was present when she was writing her part in the recording studio . Shontelle <unk> that following one of Rihanna 's concerts , the singer exited the stage and immediately returned to the tour bus to work in the studio . Daniels said that once the writing camp had concluded , Rihanna listened to all of the songs which had been composed for her and chose her favorites . In September 2010 , several months after Sham attended the writing camp , Rihanna called him and said that she wanted to record " Man Down " for inclusion on Loud . 
