General Fiyah is helping Three Houses Down burn up the charts

An 11-year-old musician who goes by the name General Fiyah has helped a local reggae band go viral.

Lotima Nicholas Pome'e, aka General Fiyah, is a singer and performer who joined Otara reggae-pop band Three Houses Down last year.

General Fiyah has become a fully fledged member of Otara reggae group Three Houses Down.

His first single with the band, Love & Affection, has quickly gone viral since being released in December, racking nearly half a million views on YouTube.

It's also sitting at No. 5 on the New Zealand Singles Charts thanks largely to Lotima's performance in the self-funded video.

Lotima says he's inspired by Michael Jackson.

"I want to be like Michael Jackson," he told NZH Focus. "The way he sings, the way he does those dance moves, it's pretty cool."

His father Rob Pome'e asked Lotima to join the band after he performed with them at the One Love festival in 2016. He performed there again earlier this month.

"We saw the opportunity and we thought it would be awesome to see how he goes," said Rob.

Lotima: "Watching my uncles and my father, I just wanted to sing with them. The dream came true."

As for that name, Lotima says he called himself that because, "I add the 'fiyah' to Three Houses Down".