Posted by Emily Exton on 09/21/2012 at 9:08 AM News

The Popdust Files: justin bieber, will.i.am, willpower, You and Me

will.i.am has pushed back the release his upcoming solo album, #willpower, after unintentional leaks hit earlier this week. Rather than go the One Direction route and speed things up so fans can hear the finest, finished products instead of warbled Internet garbage, will is making us wait a lot longer. He took to Twitter to explain how he’s going to handle the situation:

I’m trying to finish #willpower…& now because of all the leaks I have push the album back to make new songs…I will give you updates soon

— will.i.am (@iamwill) September 18, 2012

One of those rumored leaks is a collaboration with Justin Biber. Will gushed abut his time in the lab with Bieber earlier this year, citing their potential for making history and the likelihood that he’d be creating something better than the pop perfection that is Usher’s “OMG.” What we have here is “You and Me,” featuring Bieber, a lot of asking “what the love birds say?” and the double meaning behind the word “tweet.” For an album that comes with a hashtag in its title, we probably shouldn’t be bothered by the fact he recites the phrase “hashtag you and me,” but we just can’t help ourselves. Yes, we knew his love of science, technology and social media was strong, but this takes it to hashtag another level. Retweet, favorite, reply. (No?)

While the presence of Bieber is almost always appreciated, here he seems fairly underutilized—or simply whored out for the use of his name, hoping to draw the ears and eyeballs of his younger Beliebers who’ll opt to pick up the album on the off chance it’s a secret Shawty Mane mixtape. Will’s monotonous words splash along a mid-tempo beat while Bieber consistently coos “you and me together forever” over and over and over. If will.i.am gets to rap, can’t The Bieb spit his own verse, too? Your song needs it, buddy. Listen below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu3z68DQr-g