Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei says he has made an album of autobiographical heavy metal songs in his latest cultural experiment.

The songs were "mainly about my life and my experience over the last two years", Ai told DPA by telephone.

Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, front, dances with his friends as they make a cover version of music video Gangnam Style by South Korean singer Psy.

"I wrote all the lyrics and I sing them," Ai said.

"Friends wrote the melodies," he said, adding that his friend Zuoxiao Zuzhou, a musician and artist, supervised the music.