It’s not an overstatement to say Justin Bieber’s “Runaway Love” remix featuring Kanye West and Raekwon may go down as 2010’s most surprising collaboration. After thousands of downloads and listens via HipHopDX and other sites Raekwon weighed in with New York Magazine‘s Vulture blog about his unexpected contribution to the Pop music lexicon.

“It’s been a couple of mixed feelings on the net,” Rae said. “It’s all good. It makes me laugh to know how people feel about certain things, but for the most part, everybody appreciated it. You almost feel like somebody wants to down you, but then when they hear it, it’s like you can’t really speak bad about it.”

Raekwon added that he appreciated the chance to connect with a younger audience, and that he was a bit surprised that Bieber knew his infamous “Chef” moniker. The end result was no doubt some increased visibility after gaining critical acclaim for both 2009’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II and this year’s Wu Massacre project.

To that end, Rae is promoting the gold deluxe edition of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II, while working on the Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang project. To read more about Raekwon’s possible collaborations with Nas, Eminem and Kanye West, check out the full Vulture interview.