We at SO have been keeping tabs of the media firestorm surrounding Rihanna’s new Portland-shot music video,

Man Down. We’ve hmmmed and ahhhed as parents’ watch groups, critics, pontificators and even RiRi herself weigh in on the controversy-baiting fiveminute clip directed by the in-demand video lensman Anthony Mandler.

Starring homegrown Pulse supermodel Oraine Barrett as a man-who-done-RiRi-wrong, the controversial vid, filmed last April, opens with the Bajan sensation gunning down Barrett in a train station following a nightclub encounter gone horribly wrong. But Barrett and Portland aren’t the only Jamaican connections to Man Down.

Enter Jules Dougall.

The Rock-reared makeup artist-turned-artist management company owner oversees the career of Shama ‘Sham’ Joseph, the Haitian artist (the first artiste she signed) who produced and co-wrote the hot song for Rihanna’s current album Loud.

“Little did I know that our song would become her next official single,” Dougall told S O from her new work base in Los Angeles last week. Dougall, who also boasts songwriting credits for last year’s World Cup song Oh Africa, revealed that the song (which features reggae-tinged melodies) “has been an incredible boost for Sham’s career and mine.” Already, Sham has been short-listed among the list of producers and writers to work on RiRi’s follow-up album, which she is currently recording in-between performance dates for her current Loud stadium tour.

Dougall reveals that Sham has also snagged another highprofile gig. His song Last of the Gods (written by another of Dougall’s artiste finds, Verse) will be featured on the eagerly anticipated Jay Z/Kanye West album Watch The Throne.

Not one to take her steadily rising stocks for granted, a reflective Dougall told S O: “I decided to make the move to Los Angeles after the deal for the World Cup went through. I wanted to focus on working with upcoming writers and producers and help give them a shot at getting their songs on the best albums. These are the people behind the hits, artistes often don’t write their own music.”

She surmises that life at the moment is peachy keen. “All all life is great. I am happy be living in L A for the past year and being able to see my life and career grow.”

SO couldn’t be any prouder.