Can you imagine what Rihanna’s “Umbrella” would’ve sounded like had the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul had hopped on it? Well in an alternate timeline, that could’ve been reality.
During the the after show for Andy Cohen’s “Watch What Happens Live” show with special guests Mary J. Blige and Method Man, Blige responded to a fan question about why she turned down the hit single. The reason? She was simply too busy.
The song, which was written and produced by The Dream and “Tricky” Stewart, came to Blige around the 2007 Grammy season.
“It was during Grammy time for me, it was a big Grammy time,” Blige said according to Elle. “I was nominated for eight Grammys and I was trying to get myself together for that. And during that time, that’s when ‘Umbrella’ came to me and I couldn’t do anything with it because I was so busy with my own life and I was like, ‘You know what? It doesn’t even sound like me anyway.'”
Blige went on to to win three Grammys in 2007 and “Umbrella” claimed the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
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