-Erykah's voice has a certain, haunting quality that married perfectly to the beat. I don't know that Jill could match that feel.

-Eve not being in the video makes no sense.

Big picture though?

The song is a hit. That beat and Thought's performance on all but guaranteed something special. The rest was gravy.

So, if anything, they were splitting hairs by switching it to Erykah.

I wouldn't say they're vindicated by the song's success. It worked, but it's not like the alternative would have been all that far off at worst, and it could have equaled the version we got at best.