In his torn blue jeans and vintage T-shirt, Jon Rowe looks like your average Penn State student.

It's hard to believe that behind the Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses is a college student juggling the stresses of both school and a trying to live as a rap artist striving to land a record deal.

In fact, this spring break, Rowe (senior-English) decided to ditch the beach for the recording studio and headed to Los Angeles where he is currently recording his second album, tentatively titled White Noise, which is the follow-up to his independent release, Country Clubbin'. He is working with Grammy winner Mike Elizondo, who has previously worked with Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Gwen Stefani and Eve.

Known to his fans as Troy Walsh a.k.a. Mr. Unlikely, Jon Rowe is just that -- unlikely. His production company, BurbLife, describes him as: "Your very own chic, country-clubbing musical messiah. Volvo-driving, gator-shirted, upper-middle-class bohemia. Pure privilege. The palest thing on two feet."

With influences covering the whole musical spectrum, from Notorious B.I.G. to Nirvana, he is not your average rapper, to say the least.

Rowe grew up in Mechanicsburg, the son of an English teacher in a well-to-do suburban area. This fact was actually the inspiration for Rowe's first record.

"Jon has always had a vocabulary the size of a dictionary," said Dave Eberly, Rowe's longtime friend and Web site designer. "I remember when we would carpool coming home from baseball games when we were 10. Jon would rap all the way home about what happened in the game, or anything really."

Although rapping was always a love of Rowe's, he didn't come from a musical family.

"I actually come from an athletic family," Rowe said. "Rapping was fun, but I didn't really take it seriously, and I ended up going to school at Millersville [University] to play football."

Rowe was unhappy with his situation and ended up dropping out and moving back home. After a series of unfortunate events, Rowe ended up at Penn State.

"Penn State was my last straw. I wasn't working much and my parents were getting fed up with me living under their roof," Rowe said. "An amazing set of circumstances has brought me to where I am right now and I truly believe that if all of it hadn't of happened than I wouldn't be in the position I am now."

Had it not been for Penn State, Rowe certainly would not have met Jay Buim (senior-film and video) who decided Rowe would be a perfect emcee for his weekly event, Hip-Hop Anonymous.

"I met him and we immediately hit it off," Buim said. "Sometimes when I would DJ around town, Jon would grab the mic and give a little impromptu performance."

After a lot of rubbing elbows with the right people, Rowe's album fell into the hands of the Bloodhound Gang.

"Its not your ability or even the music your making that is important, its catching someone's ear that's in a position of importance that believes in what your doing." Rowe said.

As luck would have it, the Bloodhound Gang were believers and even offered Rowe a spot on the bill for a nationwide tour in late August and early September.

"Touring with the Bloodhound Gang is an absolute fit because they are a band, but at the same time the lead singer is a rapper," Rowe said. "Usually with hip-hop there's a turntable and a microphone on stage with not much room for improvisation. I want to bring the improv of a rock show along with all the instruments to my music. I want to make a sound that people haven't heard before, yet they feel comfortable with. My music is kind of the stepbrother of what the Bloodhound Gang is doing."

Rowe has a busy few months ahead of him, including promoting his CD and going on a nationwide tour with the Bloodhound Gang, but it doesn't stop there.

What's next for this up-and-coming rap superstar?

"It's simple," Buim said. "World domination."