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Kaze

For six years, Roanoke rap group Mack Jones has brought other hip-hop artists into town from the mid-Atlantic region for its annual Middle East MicFest.

This year, the act took the show on the road, hitting cities including Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Norfolk, Charlotte, N.C., Atlanta and Nashville, Tenn.

"Taking it on the road was just kind of a natural progression, pretty much the next step," said Mack Jones' Casey "Case Jones" Jaffa. "We'd wanted to do it for about two or three years now and just didn't have the right combination of people."

This combination has produced some great shows, with audiences growing of late, said Jaffa's partner-in-rhyme, Byron "Poe" Mack.

"The last three shows we've done have really, really been great, packed houses," Mack said. "So we can't wait for the one in Roanoke, because it's a really strong lineup."

That lineup -- Mack Jones with North Carolina rappers Scottie Flippen and Kaze, and the Washington-area's K-Beta and Jah I Witness (of Blacksburg act True Sound) -- hits Awful Arthur's, Towers Shopping Center, on Friday night.

Go to this story at roanoke.com/entertainment, or to blogs.roanoke.com/cutnscratch, to hear a podcast with Mack Jones, Flippen and Kaze (pronounced KAH-zee). We're streaming songs there from each artist on the tour.

-- Tad Dickens

What: Middle East MicFest

Who: Mack Jones, Scottie Flippen, Jah I Witness Emcee, Kaze and K-Beta

When: 10 p.m. Friday

Where: Awful Arthur's, Towers Shopping Center, Roanoke

How much: $5

Contact: 777-0007, awfularthursseafood.com, micfest2010.com