"Man Down" is a song by Bajan singer Rihanna from her fifth studio album, Loud (2010). Rihanna, fellow Bajan singer Shontelle, and production duo R. City wrote the song with its main producer, Sham "Sak Pase". They wrote it during a writing camp, in Los Angeles of March 2010, held by Rihanna's record label to gather compositions for possible inclusion on the then-untitled album. Rock City were inspired by Bob Marley's 1973 song "I Shot the Sheriff" and set out to create a song which embodied the same feel, but from a female perspective. "Man Down" is a reggae song which incorporates elements of ragga and electronic music. Lyrically, Rihanna is a fugitive after she shoots a man, an action she later regrets. Several critics singled out "Man Down" as Louds highlight, while others commented on her prominent West Indian accent and vocal agility.
Def Jam released "Man Down" on May 3, 2011, as the fifth single from the album. In the United States, the single reached number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number nine on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song topped the chart in France for five consecutive weeks and reached the top three in Belgium and the Netherlands. Anthony Mandler directed its music video, in which Rihanna's character shoots a man after he rapes her. The video was criticized by the Parents Television Council, Industry Ears and Mothers Against Violence, who faulted Rihanna for suggesting that murder is an acceptable form of justice for rape victims. However, actress Gabrielle Union, a rape survivor, praised the video for being relatable. "Man Down" was on the set list for three of Rihanna's tours – the Loud Tour (2011), the Diamonds World Tour (2013) and the Anti World Tour (2016).
Background In March 2010, record label Def Jam held a writing camp in Los Angeles for songwriters and producers to compose material for possible inclusion on Rihanna's then-untitled fifth studio album, Loud. Def Jam rented out nearly every recording studio in Los Angeles in order to create as many songs as possible. Ray Daniels, the manager of musical duo Rock City (brothers Theron and Timothy Thomas), was present during the sessions, and stated that a writing camp typically involves the label hiring ten recording studios for two weeks at the cost of $25,000 per day. Daniels revealed that it is where songwriters have lyrics but no music, and where producers have music but no lyrics.
Shama Joseph, professionally known as SAK PASE, was hired as one of the producers to work on crafting songs at the camp. SAK PASE's manager had arranged his attendance at the camp through an acquaintance who was an employee of the record label. SAK PASE explained that he found a flight to Los Angeles and began working on music as soon as he arrived, stating that he had "nothing to lose and everything to gain". He was inspired by a vision of Rihanna performing songs at a concert that were Caribbean themed. SAK PASE felt that Rihanna had not explored Caribbean-themed music since her debut album, Music of the Sun (2005).
Production and recording
According to Daniels, Rock City knew Sak Pase but they had not heard the West Indian/Caribbean-themed music that he had composed during the camp. SAK PASE 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, Sak Pase 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 elucidated 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.
Rihanna later described the sentiment she wanted to express as "gangsta", and elaborated on how reggae culture has influenced her musical style: "I'm super inspired by reggae music [and it] has been a part of me since I was born, and I grew up listening to it. It was exciting for me to take this on as my own and do a song like this, especially with the lyrics being like that." The track was composed during Rihanna's Last Girl on Earth tour. The song's instrumental was recorded by Cary Clark at The Village in Los Angeles. Kuk Harrell produced Rihanna's vocals with Josh Gudwin and Marcos Tovar at Westlake Recording Studios, also in Los Angeles. Bobby Campbell assisted with vocal production and recording. The song was mixed by Manny Marroquin at Larrabee Sound Studios in Los Angeles, assisted by Erik Madrid and Christian Plata.
Daniels estimated the total cost of the writing camp to be approximately $200,000, averaging $18,000 for each of the eleven songs which were included on Loud; the camp consisted of forty writers and producers. Daniels confirmed that Rock City received $15,000 and Sham $20,000 for their part in the production of "Man Down". He said that "to get that twelve minutes of inspiration from a top songwriting team is expensive — even before you take into account the fee for the songwriters". A cost of $53,000 for "Man Down" was already incurred prior to Rihanna entering the studio with a vocal producer. Although Makeba Riddick did not serve as the song's vocal producer, Daniels cited her as an example of how the process works and how much she would charge. It is the responsibility of the vocal producer to tell a singer how to sing the song correctly to achieve the desired sound. Daniels said that Riddick's fee varies from $10,000 to $15,000, and that the final part of the process is for the song to be mixed and mastered, which incurs a similar fee. He estimated the final cost of writing, producing, vocal producing, mixing and mastering "Man Down" to be $78,000. When combined with the marketing and promotional costs, the total expense was $1,078,000.
Composition and lyrical interpretation
"Man Down" is a reggae and dancehall murder ballad with "Caribbean-rhythms" and elements of ragga and electronic music. The song, in the key of C minor, has a tempo of 77 beats per minute. Rihanna's voice spans more than one and a half octaves, from F3 to E5. Slant Magazine critic Sal Cinquemani described "Man Down" as one of Rihanna's "most confident vocal performances" with her strong Barbadian patois. Jon Pareles of The New York Times said that the singer "plays up her West Indian accent", and August Brown of the Los Angeles Times described the vocals as reasserting "her Caribbean lilt". Entertainment Weekly writer Leah Greenblatt described "Man Down" as a song with "island rhythms". Lyrically, Rihanna is a fugitive after she shoots a man, but later regrets it. Rihanna slowly relays the chain of events which led up to the murder. She cries to her mother about the act that she has committed – "Mama, I just shot a man down" – expressing guilt and remorse for not meaning to kill her attacker, and that he is somebody's son. As the track develops, Rihanna's Bajan accent becomes stronger and exaggerated, which climaxes during the bridge as she declares "Why deed I pull dee treeguh, pull dee treeguh, pull dee treeguh, BOOM!" MuuMuse writer Bradley Stern thought that the track took on a confessional tone.
On February 8, 2009, Rihanna was reported to have been involved in an altercation with her boyfriend, Chris Brown. He allegedly punched Rihanna and threatened to kill her. Brown turned himself in to the police and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault during the trial. August Brown called the song an apparent "warning" to Chris Brown and a response to his song "Deuces" (2010), which denounces an ex-lover. Kitty Empire of The Guardian wrote that Brown's assault on Rihanna gives the song lyrical context, and that Rihanna sings the song with "bittersweet menace." When asked by HipHopDX about how he reacted to listeners of the song saying that it condones violence, Sham dismissed the accusations:
Release and reception On March 1, 2011, Rihanna asked fans to help her choose the next single from Loud using Twitter, saying that she would film a music video in the forthcoming weeks. After an influx of suggestions, the singer said she had narrowed the options down to four songs: "Man Down", "California King Bed", "Cheers (Drink to That)" and "Fading". On March 12, she confirmed that "California King Bed" had been selected as the next international single. However, "Man Down" was sent to rhythmic and urban radio stations in the United States on May 3, before the May 13 release of "California King Bed", making "Man Down" and "California King Bed" the fifth and sixth singles from Loud. The song was released in France and Switzerland on July 11 and the Netherlands on July 15.
Kitty Empire called the track "excellent", and praised it for being an original composition which is reminiscent of a "righteous old reggae murder ballad". Consequence of Sound writer Ryan Burleson said that "Man Down" and another album track called "Fading" both "stand on their own sonically", and that the former is an homage to her Caribbean heritage with its dancehall melody. Describing the track as "breezy", Bradley Stern thought that no other song on Loud embodied Rihanna's personality more so than on "Man Down". Cinquemani chose "Man Down" as the best song on Loud, calling Rihanna's vocal agility "surprising" and noting that the "fully-fledged reggae" song is co-written by a fellow Barbadian-born singer, Shontelle.
In her review of Loud, Emily Mackay of NME called its experimentation more "organic" than that on Rihanna's previous album Rated R (2009), citing "Man Downs theme of "doomed youth". Similarly, Nima Baniamer of Contactmusic.com pointed out that "Man Down", which she described as "a dark track" that is "haunting" yet "delightfully intriguing", was reminiscent of the material on Rated R. In their review of Rihanna's top 20 songs, Time Out ranked "Man Down" as their tenth best track, writing that it is Rihanna at "her badass best". Complex staff compiled a list of their top 26 Rihanna songs, and ranked "Man Down" in thirteenth place; Claire Lobenfeld thought that it was the singer's most "cinematic" song of her career, and that she elevated the theme of "accidental manslaughter" from "downtrodden" to "adorable".
Commercial performance In the United States, "Man Down" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the week of June 11, 2011, peaking at number 59 on July 9 and spending a total of 14 weeks on the chart. On the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, it peaked at number nine on August 6, 2011, remaining there for two weeks and spending a total of 28 weeks charting. It was number 47 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 2011 year-end list. "Man Down" was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of more than 2 million units. The song reached number 63 on the Canadian Hot 100.