Jasper County is known for a lot of good things. It’s a place with deep roots in agriculture where people love to help each other out, where a strong educational system is valued and, most of all, for its love of veterans. But one thriving local product may have the most unique success story of all.

Izzy Dunfore, born Lucas Hewitt, is a Baxter native who has turned his youth obsession with hip-hop into an enterprise. He owns his own label, Dunfore Records, he acts as his own manager, he writes and records his own songs, he makes his own beats and he books his own shows. Friday will mark Izzy Dunfore’s return home to Jasper County where he will perform and showcase talents at the First Avenue Speakeasy, 106 First Ave. W. in downtown Newton.

“A good description of my style would be the prowess of Eazy-E, the lyrical ability of like a Method Man or maybe a Busta Rhymes, but a Midwest version,” Izzy Dunfore said describing his rapping technique. “A good mix of those three I’d say.”