The North Okanagan is associated with a variety of hobbies and all things outdoors. Rarely, though, is it associated with Canada乌鸦传媒檚 hip-hop scene.

But Vernon乌鸦传媒檚 TassNata (Justin Nerling) and SonReal (Aaron Hoffman) are working hard to put the Okanagan on the radar.

TassNata was nominated May 19 for 2017 iHeartRadio Much Music Video Award (MMVA) for Hip Hop Video of the Year for his 2016 release Let乌鸦传媒檚 Go, featuring Toronto乌鸦传媒檚 Juno winners Rich Kidd and Tona, while SonReal, who now lives in Los Angeles, was nominated for Pop Video of the Year for his track No Warm Up.

乌鸦传媒淚t feels good,乌鸦传媒� says TassNata. 乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 something as kids that we always wanted to be on Much Music. To finally be nominated is a good feeling.乌鸦传媒�

Although he attended the MMVA ceremony as a guest of Rich Kidd and Tona last year, 乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 way cooler to do it yourself,乌鸦传媒� says TassNata.

While he is excited to walk the red carpet, TassNata believes his nomination will be influential in the Vernon music scene.

乌鸦传媒淭here are a lot of younger kids that are in to hip hop,乌鸦传媒� he says. 乌鸦传媒淲hen I was younger, it would have been cool to see locals on Much Music. I hope that it shows kids that you can get on, you just have to work really hard.乌鸦传媒�

However, being from a town with a smaller hip hop scene has its benefits.

乌鸦传媒淚t was hard because we don乌鸦传媒檛 have all of the resources, we just grew up recording at home,乌鸦传媒� TassNata says, adding that the lack of resources forces recording artists who are starting out to learn how to do everything, from production to recording, on their own.

乌鸦传媒淏ack then, (SonReal and I) were the only guys rapping. Friends would say, 乌鸦传媒榯hey乌鸦传媒檙e so good.乌鸦传媒� They were lying, of course,乌鸦传媒� he laughs.

TassNata乌鸦传媒檚 video, produced by multi-Grammy nominee Tone Mason, has accumulated more than a million plays through its exclusive Facebook release. The track has also been played at Toronto Raptors games and throughout the 2016 World Junior Hockey Championships.

The two Vernon-born recording artists are the only B.C. artists who will walk the red carpet June 18 for the MMVAs.

乌鸦传媒淭he fact that we乌鸦传媒檙e both from Vernon is crazy.乌鸦传媒�