Snoop Dogg is making a reggae album. With help from Major Lazer, the rapper is reportedly turning singer, putting "his heart" into an LP of reggae tunes.

"It's like Snoop Dogg and Major Lazer together," explained the producer Diplo, who formed Major Lazer with the English DJ Switch. "What we're doing is a reggae record ... It's all reggae and [Snoop's] singing and he's doing an awesome job. I never knew it, but he had his heart in every song."

This isn't Diplo's first time working with Snoop – he produced the rapper's 2010 tune That Tree. But for each of them, reggae is a bold new world. Diplo is best known for his dry bounce productions, and Snoop is by no means a crooner. But the MC's crew is "amazing", Diplo told MTV news, and the DJ is excited to be making his debut as an executive producer. "Snoop Dogg is an icon, man; he's bigger than the music," Diplo said.

Although there was never any mention of recording reggae, Snoop has previously hinted that his upcoming solo album will contain "the element of surprise". "It's like the reincarnation and the birth of me becoming who I really am," he recently said. "I was always a very peaceful, kind, loving, caring individual [but] making music to symbolise that sometimes never was my key."

Both Snoop and Diplo have other projects on the go: Diplo is producing tracks with No Doubt and Usher, while Snoop has recorded a new track with country legend Willie Nelson. Nelson's song title clearly reflects the two artists' mutual interest: it's called Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.