Luis Fonsi originally wanted Jay-Z or Drake to rap on 'Despacito'.
The bi-lingual remix version of the Spanish hit with Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber is the most-viewed video on YouTube, but the 39-year-old singer says he wanted to get a hip-hip artist to do Justin's part long before the 'Sorry' hitmaker got involved.
Speaking to British newspaper The Times, Luis said: "Before Justin we'd been talking about doing a collaboration with an American artist.
"We were leaning towards a more hip-hop artist, but I didn't know how to get in touch with JAY-Z or Drake. Justin wasn't even on the list."
Luis was given the final cut of the song and had no idea Justin would sing in Spanish, but was blown away.
He said: "I expected to hear a full English (language) version of the song.
"All of a sudden I'm hearing Justin Bieber singing in Spanish. I thought, 'This is HUGE!'"
The 23-year-old pop megastar has been criticised by many of his pop peers, Louis Tomlinson and Jonas Blue included, but Luis says though he hasn't hung out with him, Justin is "smart" and has learnt from his troubled past.
He said: "It's tough for him to be out in public, he has a lot of restrictions as to where he can and can't go.
"He's a nice guy and he's a smart guy - he's making very good musical decisions and he's learnt from his mistakes."
The 'What Do You Mean' hitmaker recently axed the final 14 dates of his 'Purpose World Tour' citing exhaustion as the reason.
Justin said he was taking some time off so he can work on making sure his "mind, heart, and soul" are "sustainable".
In a note to fans posted on Instagram, he wrote: "Me taking this time right now is me saying I want to be SUSTAINABLE.. I want my career to be sustainable, but I also want my mind heart and soul to be sustainable. So that I can be the man I want to be, the husband I eventually want to be and the father I want to be.
"This message is just an opportunity for you to know my heart, I'm not expecting anyone to understand, but I do want people to have an opportunity to understand where I am coming from! THIS MESSAGE IS IS VERY GRAMMATICALLY INCORRECT BUT ITS FROM THE HEART. BUT I ITHINK THERES SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT IMPERFECTIONS!!" (sic)"
