Producers say Rihanna's "Man Down" is an answer to Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff"!

The brothers Theron and Timothy Thomas, the producers Rock City, responsible for the song “Man Down” by Rihanna, said that the song is a response to “I Shot the Sheriff” by Bob Marley. “Quando escrevemos a canção, eu e meu irmão estávamos tentando recriar da melhor maneira possível, assim como Bob Marley fez em ‘I Shot the Sheriff’, na versão feminina do que teria sido”, said Timothy Thomas. “Nós queríamos que a canção fosse algo onde todo mundo pudesse ter uma opinião. Alguns acharam que parecia literal, outros acharam que parecia uma metáfora”, said Theron Thomas. "It's like someone wrote a script for a movie and it's delivered perfectly. I just think people need something to talk about... because when you listen to the song lyric by lyric, if it was literally shot [as it is in the lyrics], it probably would have been a little [more graphic] if you asked me," said Theron about the controversy surrounding the clip. In “Man Down”'s video, Rihanna appears shooting the man who raped her. The group Parents Television Council attacked saying that the song promotes murders, and called for the clip to be banned. Singer Rihanna countered the criticism, saying that victims need to have a voice.