Seth and Nik Helland are a prime example of how hard work can pay off in the long run.

The brotherly hip hop duo from Brainerd who formed Midwest Selects as an after school joke with friends in 2009 were awarded the honor of being named “Next to Blow Up” during the 2012 Twin Cities Urban Music Awards March 23.

Nominated for two other awards including “Best Song” and “Best Group” during the award show held in Minneapolis, Seth said it’s been just the tip of the iceberg for Midwest Selects and their hip hop ambitions.

“We dropped our album (“Etc.”) about a month ago and the feedback has been amazing on that,” said Seth on the group’s fifth album release. “We’re at about 1,300 downloads on that and we released our second music video (“Make U Burn”) so we’re pretty excited about that.

“Also we were asked to be a part of the “Minnesota Cypher” which is kind of a who’s who of Minnesota hip hop right now and we have our next show on April 20 in Minneapolis.

Seth said Midwest Selects is also working with Just Kidding Clothing based in the Twin Cities to work on more shows and will be hitting the high seas as performers on a cruise ship in August.

“Next to Blow Up” indeed.

Midwest Selects will be interviewed at 10:30 a.m. at the Brainerd Lakes Marketplace event Saturday, seen live at the Brainerd Dispatch booth.

JESSI PIERCE may be reached at 855-5859 or jessi.pierce@brainerddispatch.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jessi_pierce (@jessi_pierce).