At first, we thought it was a joke. But the team-up between the hip-hop heavyweights and the pint-sized pop star is 'definitely' on

A collaboration between Kanye West, Raekwon and pint-size teen singer Justin Bieber is "definitely" on, Raekwon confirmed yesterday. "At the end of the day," the rapper explained, "shorty is a sensation."

At first, we thought it was a joke. Kanye name-drops like a man with a shredded phone book, and he rarely follows through. But when artists see bandwagons, they jump – and all three performers seem to want a slice of each other. " When you got these kinda talents merging together to do something exciting, I think it's something that's gonna make the fans check it out," Raekwon said.

It started innocently enough. "Listening to Justin Bieber's Run Away Love," Kanye tweeted on Sunday. "I love Sunday mornings in the crib." Bieber, well-trained by his management, reciprocated the compliment. "It's not a so-what moment for me," he replied. "I'm 16 and a fan. I'm kinda hyped u are listening to my stuff. Thank u. Nice Sunday morning."

Then things got weird. "I'm honoured that you like my music!" West – one of the decade's greatest songwriters and producers – told Bieber, a flash-in-the-pan heart-throb from Canada. "Maybe we can do something together. Me, you and Raekwon." He went on the suggest a remix of Runaway Love. Bieber was right on it. "Might sound crazy 2 u but even having this convo is living the dream," he wrote.

We thought it would end there. Raekwon, a founding member of Wu-Tang Clan, creator of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, surely doesn't have time for little Justin Bieber. Right? RIGHT??? Wrong. "I respect [Justin], I like his style," Raekwon said yesterday. "[For him] to acknowledge me, it makes me feel good that the young generation is checkin' me out. And at the same time it gives me a position to play a big brother in the game. He wants my assistance or whatever, he can get it."

If Kanye, Raekwon and, er, "shorty" are committed to this team-up, our only hope is that they take some inspiration from Nick Pittsinger, an unknown electronic musician who took Bieber's U Smile and slowed down it by 800%. The result, available here, is an elegiac dream, like Vangelis crossed with Eluvium. Throw some Raekwon in there, and we might get really excited.