Summer is approaching and local musicians are already hard at work cooking hits that will help South Africans boogie on the dance floors come the festive season.

One of the artists who was an early bird this season is Tumelo Rakumako, popularly known as BigStar, who released his debut album Me & Mines in August.

Even though his album found itself on top of iTunes on the same day it was released, BigStar brushed aside the achievement saying he was more interested in the message he was spreading rather than runaway sales.

"It's like musicians have forgotten the purpose they serve in the universe. They are focused on everything else but music. The shoes, hair, cars and everything else but the music," he said.

The album's success has been attributed to the fame that his hit single Sgubu, featuring hip-hop star Kwesta, attained.

BigStar said he was fortunate to work with big artists in the music industry on his album. The 12-track album features Kaylo, Rouge, Jay Claude, Kwesta and other artists who he feels are sticking to the South African sound.

The 27-year-old artist used the foundation of winning the first reality music competition show The Vuzu Hustle in 2015 to build his career on. Winning the competition was a culmination of work that started in the early years when he rapped with a group of friends and participated in music competitions.

Like many other artists, the church played a role in his love for music.

"I fell in love with instruments as I heard them play at church, then I decided to learn how to play them. With time I learnt how to play other instruments such as the guitar and keyboard," BigStar said.

Prior to his album, he released an EP titled Telescope in 2016, which did not receive as much reaction as his album.

"Regardless of how we grow musically, we should keep the South African element in our music and be proud of it. That is why I chose to have Kwesta on Sgubu, he has stuck to his roots," he said.