Athens rapper meets his match

It may seem like a weird fit, but Athens rapper Tommy Valentine is quite the Johnny Cash fan.

And just as the Man in Black had June Carter, the 26-year-old wanted a partner to hit the stage with.

He found her. On Saturday at the 40 Watt, Valentine will introduce Laura West to his hometown crowd.

Valentine and West are headlining a 10-city tour across Georgia promoting area hip-hop talent. But no show may be quite as special as when Rap to the Future - a play off the movie, with promotional posters featuring a DeLorean - parks in Athens.

This won't be the Valentine that fans are used to. West has added a little bit of pop to the sound, which suits both artists just fine.

"I would call it high-energy," West said. "We love the music we've been making recently, and we're really excited to perform it."

Valentine decided he wanted to form a duo when he returned to the stage last year after taking a couple of years off. He had gotten into battle rapping a decade ago, but he eventually decided to drop music to focus on bigger projects.

In 2008, Valentine worked for Barack Obama's presidential campaign and managed Bobby Saxon's failed bid against Rep. Paul Broun.

When he decided to get back into the music scene, he didn't want to go it alone. So he held auditions and searched outlets like Facebook to find local talent.

"I got this random Facebook mes

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