It’s the quintessential hip-hop fairy tale: two rappers meet, engage in a lyrical battle, then decide to join forces to create music together. In the realm of music videos, it happens every day.

But not usually in Cedar Falls.

The two players in this saga are Iowa-bred rappers Skylar Johnson and Jeremy Trudeau. Along with singer and lyricist John Baker, the group is J Trey. The threesome makes its Ames concert debut Wednesday evening at Boheme Bistro, 2900 West St.

The trio formed in 2001, Trudeau says, when the men met each other at a party Trudeau hosted at his house in Cedar Falls.

“Skylar and me battled each other, and we didn’t get along right at first,” Trudeau explains. “But we liked each other — we got along and started doing songs with [Baker] and all three of us put it together after that.”

Trudeau’s hesitant to say who won the lyrical showdown. Baker’s willing to weigh in on the matter, however — he says it was Trudeau, hands down.

“Oh yeah,” Baker interjects. “J.T. kicked Skylar’s ass.”

Trudeau was a junior at the University of Northern Iowa at the time, and graduated in December with a degree in marketing. The 23-year-old says his college education has helped the group promote their music and land record contracts with Portland, Ore.-based Eastside Records and Bakersfield, Calif.-based A+9 Records.

“Everything I learned in class I apply to making music,” Trudeau says. “Everything you learn in marketing goes hand-in-hand with what we’re trying to accomplish.”

J Trey is in the middle of their Iowa tour, promoting their debut album, “The Time Has Come.” The record’s first radio single, “Welcome to the I,” is a tribute to the members’ home state and was produced by Da Playboy Foundation, a Norwegian production team, Trudeau says. The song also features Eastside Records artist and CEO Bullet.

“We’d heard of Bullet before and liked his stuff … he’s originally from Des Moines,” Trudeau says. “When we signed to Eastside Records, he contacted us himself and we got together in Portland to do the song.”

As a self-described “white kid from Carroll,” Trudeau says he understands comparisons to another Caucasian rapper who hails from the Midwest.

“Yeah, you get [the comparisons to Eminem], but musically, we’re completely different,” Trudeau says. “Just because we’re both white, people compare us, but our group brings a lot of different styles to the table.”

But the Eminem parallels only go so far, he says.

“Well, it’s not the norm for a white guy to be rapping, period,” Trudeau says. “Also, to be an educated guy, I guess that’s different than what hip-hop’s used to.”

Instead of comparing Trudeau to the foul-mouthed Detroit lyricist, Baker says their fans might say the baby-faced Trudeau is reminiscent of another pop star — the one who shares the initials “J.T.”

“Oh yeah, some of our fans say it’s like one of those boy bands or something,” Baker jokes. “[Trudeau’s] been labeled as the good-looking one in the group — he’s the cute one.”

But what does that make Baker?

“Oh, I’m just the singer,” he says with a laugh.

Who: J Trey, Atrophy

Where: Boheme Bistro, 2900 West St.

When: 10 p.m. Wednesday

Cost: $5