Mali Kabs, the four-year-old British singer who’s a hit on TikTok

Maliya Kabs, a four-year-old British girl who has become famous for her starring role in family car singalongs, has won over a whole new set of fans in Latin America by singing in word-perfect Spanish and Portuguese. Little “Mali,” as she is known, can be seen in a new TikTok video belting out renditions of the Queen of Tejano Selena Quintanilla’s ballads Bidi Bidi Bom Bom Bom and Como La Flor. Maliya doesn’t miss a beat before switching to Portuguese for Apollo G’s rap tune Tempo Antigo.

Her passionate singing means the video has been viewed more than eight million times in a week, as thousands of fans leave comments expressing love for her Latin music performance. The multilingual Maliya is also learning Twi (Ghanaian language; from her mother), Lingala (Congolese language; from her father) and French, she says in the video.

Maliya’s parents, Chanel and Tay Kabs, decided to quit their jobs to dedicate themselves to their social media presence full time after their family-focused videos propelled them to fame over the last three years. Their YouTube and TikTok videos feature their children Teija (11), Maliya (4) and TJ (one).

The Kabs now have more than 892,000 subscribers on YouTube and more than a million on TikTok. “The best bit for us is spending time together and working as a family,” Chanel told British newspaper The Mirror. “I think because we all do enjoy it so much, it’s great to do something you love and spend time with your family. We’re able to get really more involved in their life, whereas when you’re working nine to five, you can miss so much,” she added.

What started as a game between father and daughter is now fuelling the Kabs’ family business, as they spend a lot of time in the car listening to songs for fun. “Who would want to see me and my daughter just sing in the car?” Tay once asked himself. “It got 100,000 views and we realised this might be a thing.”