The month of May was a big month for music in Louisville. The last weekend of the month was the 20th anniversary of the Forecastle Festival, a three-day music festival filled with concerts from artists of many genres at Louisville Waterfront Park. Earlier in the month, Louisville’s own Jack Harlow dropped his second studio album, Come Home the Kids Miss You, which he performed much of at Forecastle following an early afternoon performance by a local rap group, The Homies.

The Homies are an upcoming rap group made up of Ace Pro, Shloob, Quiiso, and 2forwOyNE. They have been together since 2012 and making music seriously since 2015. Working together came easily for them, as they did not have to search far for each other.

“It was a blessing for me — it just fell upon us,” Shloob described. Shloob and 2forwOyNE are twins, while 2forwOyNE and Ace Pro know each other from playing sports together growing up. Quiiso joined the mix in college.

“It means a lot,” Shloob said when discussing what it is like to be from Louisville and performing at Forecastle as a hometown act. The Homies nodded in agreement. Before, they had always been standing in the crowds.

“I’ve been to a few of them, partied at them, but never really had a full set with my friends — my best friends — so it means a lot. It feels really good seeing people I know in the crowd,” he said, “And they’re singing the songs with us. It was really cool.” 

The crowd during their performance was not exclusively Louisvillians. People traveled state and nation-wide to make it to the Ocean Stage and watch the first set of the festival: The Homies. With much excitement, the crowd danced, sang, and rapped along to their music. 

Two days before their performance, they released their new song, Shake, alongside a music video. Fans are hoping for new music this summer, and they noted they are working on getting some “cool things out.” However, Shloob doesn’t like giving too much away.

“We want everything to be crazy, just right in your face when it comes out,” he said, preferring to keep surprises for the fans. He did state that they have “some really cool concepts, some ideas, trying to get out into fruition.” 

The Homies are among many recent rap, hip-hop, and R&B artists to come out of Louisville. Others include Jack Harlow, Bryson Tiller, 2KBaby, and EST Gee.

“Coming up in the music scene in Louisville was kinda trying because early on, when we started, it wasn’t much of a presence,” Ace Pro said. “A lot of people didn’t see the vision or the work — chasing your dreams as an artist. As time went along, and we were gradually getting better and creating our collective, we made that possibility for others.”

They collaborate not only with each other, but with other artists like Jack Harlow. Many people know of the members’ individual work with Jack Harlow. 2forwOyNE produced six songs on Harlow’s new album, and has features on tracks from other mixtapes. Shloob has a feature on a Louisville favorite of Harlow’s track, Wasted Youth, from 2017.

Collaboration is important, The Homies noted.

“Two heads, three heads, four heads is better than one,” Shloob said. He emphasized the importance of community and collaboration in the creative realm. “Find your community and just build with them. Sky’s the limit, honestly.”

After The Homies kicked off the weekend, festival-goers heard music and watched live performances from other artists such as Earl Sweatshirt, Kirby, Mob Rich, Oliver Tree, 6lack, Lucille Croft, Tai Verdes and dozens of others. The Homies were a wonderful way to kick off the weekend on their home turf, and fans are hopeful to see them again at the festival.