Pop star Cheryl Cole has signed a record deal with rapper Will.i.am's label and the duo are set to work in an album together. With the new deal, the 26-year-old singer joins the league of stars such as Kelis and Fergie.

"Cheryl's dope, I like collaborating with her. We've talked about working on her next album, plus we signed her to the label in America," said Will.i.am.

The album will be the Girls Aloud star's first foray into the United States. "We're figuring out how we go about it in the States. It has to be something really incredible done in a different way," the rapper added.

Cole, who recently split with her footballer husband Ashley, first collaborated with Will.i.am in the revamped version of the Black Eyed Peas star's Heartbreaker. The duet continued with another collaboration, this time around was for her own track '3 Words'. Cole also got helping hands from the 35-year-old hip-hop star on the production process of her first solo album '3 Words'.