The Homies Bring Louisville’s Flourishing Creativity to the World

Louisville, Kentucky, has a close-knit music community and a uniquely charged energy field for emerging artists—and throughout the last decade, few have embodied the talent and vigor of the city’s scene as well as The Homies, the rap group and creative collective. From writing and recording with Louisville peers like Jack Harlow, to releasing three successful albums and a handful of hit videos including "The Come Down" and “Leaf Wraps,” The Homies are consistently self-made, multitalented, and focused on making music that’s timeless.

“This is not a local thing that we’re doing,” Quiiso—one-fourth of The Homies, alongside Acepro, Shloob, and 2forwOyNE, a.k.a 2fo’—told Noisey. As ambassadors to the global music scene, The Homies are the courteous hosts of the first episode of PLACES, a series from AWAL exploring the cities from which new waves of music are bubbling up around the United States. The episode begins, fittingly, with a 1974 championship speech from the legendary Muhammad Ali, in which he claimed the city proudly: “I’m recognized all over the world now, but my greatness started in Louisville, Kentucky, one of the greatest cities in America.” In that same spirit, PLACES is an audiovisual love letter to Louisville, as told by a group of its most imaginative contemporary artists.

“We do our best to keep it as Louisville as possible by being vulnerable in our words,” said 2fo’. The Homies emphasize the open-minded and collaborative nature of the city’s music community, a scene that is often overlooked but not lacking in talent. “Just imagine so many people knocking on the door for so long that when we finally do step in the party, you get people acting like Bryson Tiller, EST Gee, and Jack Harlow, who are notable amongst all the clutter right now. Artists you can hang your hat on, like, ‘This person is gonna be here for a while.’ That’s what Louisville breeds,” said Ace.

Earlier this month, The Homies released their third full-length album, It’s a Lot Going On, a collection of tracks rich with vocal harmonics and flows spanning vast lyrical topics, with clever bars (“She said she want a bigger ass, took her hiking”) and bouncy, sticky instrumentals. The group remembers making the single “Thirsty” in a single night while watching the NBA Finals, with 2fo’ cooking up the beat and the rest of The Homies stitching its silky hook and verses together organically in a few hours. It’s A Lot Going On captures that energy and ease, that feeling of four artists having fun. 

The Homies’ comfortable friendship is audible on their records, and, to Noisey, they joked about each other’s skills and habits in the studio. “Shloob falls into a weed coma. I be like, ‘Damn, I thought I was talking to him,’ I turn around… he’s been dreaming about some shit for like 30 minutes already, he didn’t hear a word I said,” said 2fo’. “Ace don’t write shit, he just go in there and do it,” said Quiiso. “Quiiso’s toe always be fidgeting in his sandals to the beat. He’ll be making a TikTok, or be asking, ‘You got some tea downstairs?” said 2fo’. “Quiiso always be like, ‘Can we dress the beat up? Can we add some delays and reverbs so it’s spacey?” said Ace, “and 2fo’ will be in the controller chair playing Candy Crush.” Shloob laughed, adding “2fo’s verse is gonna be one take and perfect though.” Quiiso chimed in, “and 2fo’ is definitely gonna leave the studio to go hang out with his two big ass German Shepherds.” 

In PLACES, The Homies shared a glimpse into this centered and magnetic environment they’ve created with Private Garden, the name for their studio and creative collective. They draw from one another’s individual talents with admiration. They speak insightfully about their philosophies toward music and all share a laid back, natural and humble connection to it. 2fo’ lovingly summarized The Homies’ goals at this moment: “I’m not trying to reach perfection. I just want to reach the best that we can do, which is damn near close to perfect.”