L.A. Reid has confirmed a Justin Bieber and Michael Jackson collaboration.

The 58-year-old producer behind Michael Jackson's posthumous album Xscape is planning something "really special" involving vocals from the late King of Pop and the 20-year-old singer.

Justin was originally supposed to feature on the track "Slave 2 The Rhythm" as part of Michael's latest offering until it was inadvertently leaked, causing the collaboration to be dropped from Xscape. "'Slave 2 The Rhythm' didn't include him [Justin] per my direction. That was something that was done separate and apart from me and it was leaked. If it hadn't been leaked it would have been featured but it sort of took the wrong turn. But you know what, we are going to revisit that and do something really special with Justin and Michael. I'm pretty sure," L.A. told Access Hollywood.

L.A. signed Justin to his label Island Records at the tender age of 15 and admitted he feels "protective" over the young star, who was arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) and drag-racing in Florida in January: "Justin is my guy. You know that I signed Justin so I felt a loyalty and I feel like I should protect him, that's my relationship with him."