Sounding Off: Nevis keeps a cool head

It's difficult for up-and-coming musicians to deal with hype. It simmers just below the surface until a major radio station picks up an artist's song and catapults it onto the public's playlist.

Cape Town-born musician Jimmy Nevis can attest to this. It's at that moment, when so many eyes know your face and so many ears know your voice, that the hype threatens to become a torrent sweeping artists who believe in it into an abyss.

Said Nevis: ''Becoming complacent and getting lost in the moment has been the most difficult thing to overcome in my career."

In 2012, Nevis released his debut album Subliminal and its hit single, Elephant Shoes, made an impression on Ultra Music, the record label behind the world-famous Ultra Music Festivals. They snatched up the US distribution rights for the second single from that album, Heartboxing.

What followed was a maelstrom of tours and newfound fame, but Nevis believes he was able to channel it into something positive.

''It's nice to get recognition, especially from overseas, but sincerity and honesty are part of the craft and I think people can see through artists who aren't being themselves," he said adding that success and subsequent travels have fostered a deeper love for his roots.

''Travelling changed my perspective on my country. I'm learning to appreciate new cultures, people and parts of our heritage. This influence is behind the tribal sounds on the [new] album and the content. It's about my birthplace and where I want to end up one day," he said.

Nevis, who recently released his latest album The Masses , has set himself some lofty goals.

''My dream is to be one of the biggest crossover artists in the world. I loved performing in Alexander Township, Johannesburg, with MiCasa and at the Grand Arena in Cape Town, where I performed a solo show. Performing on diverse stages brings me a step closer to achieving that dream."

During the course of his career Nevis has managed to resist the twin temptations of ego and hype. In little over two years he's established himself as one of South Africa's most popular pop artists.

If he can continue to navigate past the mellifluous voices that would lead him down the path to obscurity, maybe becoming ''one of the biggest crossover artists in the world" might not be such a lofty goal.

• 'The Masses' is in stores and on iTunes