Twelve-year-old musician General Fiyah up for major music awards

One of New Zealand's youngest talents is back in the limelight with another hit single and three nominations at the upcoming Pacific Music Awards.

Twelve-year-old Lotima Nicholas Pome'e, aka General Fiyah, co-wrote and was lead singer for the catchy Island Reggae tune Here to Stay.

The song has already had more than half a million views on YouTube and has seen the young talent nominated for Best Pacific Male Artist and Best Pacific Song awards.

The song is also up for the best Pacific Video Award.

"I feel honoured to be nominated because I look up to those other artists," says Pome'e.

"I've been doing music since I was a toddler and I was singing since I was 10 months old.
I couldn't pronounce the words, I could only hum."

Pome'e first hit the headlines in 2016 when he joined his father's and uncle's renowned Otara reggae-pop band, Three Houses Down.

His first single with the band, Love & Affection, quickly went viral, racking up more than 2.5 million views on YouTube.

"It was my dream to join the band so they gave me one chance," says Pome'e.

"I had to prove that I could be good enough to be one of the singers.

"So I stood up on the stage in front of 10,000 people and I'm sure I did good."

Pome'e now balances his King's Prep schoolwork with daily band practice as well as appearing on TV shows and giving concerts from Australia to Hawaii.

"Sometimes band practice goes a little bit over my bedtime but I still manage to wake up every day at 6am."

But despite his busy workload, Pome'e has no plans to slow down.

"I like music because it's something I love to do. It makes me feel happy to sing and dance. I just like to entertain people."

The Vodafone 2018 Pacific Music Awards will be held tomorrowat the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau, Auckland.