Producer The-Dream admits he had concerns about their collaboration on `Birthday Cake` but felt the `Russian Roulette` hitmaker was "smart" enough to make the right decision, despite knowing some would slam the record because of Chris` 2009 conviction for assaulting his then-girlfriend.
He said: "She`s pretty smart. The same questions that went through my mind, and I`m an artist also, had to have gone through hers.
"When she raised the question to me, I know she`s not crazy. So my thought was you`ve been thinking about this, you`ve already thought it out, so evidently you know what reaction you gonna get."
The-Dream believes the track sends out an important message of forgiveness but insists the collaboration is purely about music rather than the pair`s past history.
He told Billboard.com: "It was Rih`s idea. Not only do we work together, but [Rihanna] is a friend of mine. And it`s like, `You wanna do something? Then cool, let`s do it.` I don`t know how she got the logistics and how it happened. Maybe she`ll talk about it one day.
"For me, it`s just music - two talented people doing a record together, doing two records together, and that`s what it was. It wasn`t about an incident that happened. The true thing really is to forgive, and you want to believe in people."
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