Perth’s Tomas Ford Goes Viral In Malaysia After Rihanna Cover

It was only a matter of time until WA punk rock cabaret artist Tomas Ford found himself the subject of a viral video, and a cover of Rihanna’s Work, sung in Malay, has done just that.

Racking up more than 26,000 views in less than 24 hours, Ford is now getting a “notification every three seconds from a bemused Malaysian Rihanna fan” for the solid effort.

His version follows that of Malaysian electro pop artist Ze Rebelle, who released the original Malay translation at the end of April.

"I was bored on my last day in Canberra a few weeks ago. My flight was delayed, I'd been to both parliament houses and Ze Rebelle has just uploaded her Malay version of Rihanna's Work. I was constantly rapping it to myself," Ford said on Facebook.

"I don't speak Malay, so I thought it would be a terrible idea to make a video of myself rapping it."

In typical Ford fashion, he had the Malaysian version of Rihanna’s single in his head all week (even though he doesn’t speak Malay), so he decided to record it film a music video — set in Canberra and featuring glimpses of Parliament House.

“I have been chuckling to myself all night,” he said about the video's popularity.

Ford is currently touring his Crap Music Rave Party around the world, hitting Melbourne’s Bella Union on July 23. For all the details, see theGuide.