This story is published in partnership with Super Empty.
A few weeks ago, on a balmy evening in Raleigh, I stood on the outskirts of a crowd in City Plaza, nodding with delight as I took in a live Kooley High performance for approximately the 528th time in my life.
The artists I had come with, Raleigh natives DJ Ricky Ricardo and rapper Lesthegenius, were enjoying the music too. That the performers on stage were 15 years their senior hardly seemed to dull their enthusiasm. The pair of 25-year-olds are—as the ever-expanding web of playlists, podcasts, and community events under their Raleighwood banner attests—nothing if not fans and students of hip-hop first.
But beyond the music, their interest in the production likely diverged from mine and that of the 200-plus others scattered throughout the downtown square in at least one crucial way: a few weeks later, they’d be putting on a much bigger event themselves.
“Yeah, that’s the same one we’re getting,” DJ Ricky Ricardo tells me, in reference to the massive outdoor stage in front of us that Charlie Smarts and Tab-One are rapping and making dad jokes on. Actually, on second thought, he thinks the one that he and Les will be renting might be bigger. And it will have video boards.
The event we’re talking about is the second installment of Raleighwood Festival, an all-day, multigenre, 23-act extravaganza coming to South Raleigh on August 30, representing by far the most ambitious of the young duo’s many ventures to date.
In contrast to the inaugural installment of Raleighwood Fest in 2023 (the festival took a break in 2024), some measures of that leap forward are fairly obvious: a sprawling three-acre festival site, compared to the ballroom of Transfer Co. Food Hall; thousands of tickets to sell, compared to 400; and a major, out-of-state headlining act in St. Louis alt-R&B star Jordan Ward. Other elements are less grandiose, but just as daring: specifically, the homegrown, DIY spirit with which they insist on doing things, from the names on the lineup (outside of Ward, all are from North Carolina) to the vendors on-site (“The taco lady, that’s the taco truck that’s been on the corner for 15 years,” Ricky says) and the personal significance of the location itself.
“I think having this spot [is] bigger to us personally than having any spot downtown,” says Les of the festival site, a private property owned by a family friend at 4118 Old Poole Rd. “I grew up five minutes down the street, Ricky as well—that’s the stomping ground. So being able to bring that many people out to that side where everything started for us, it’s really, really big.”
Childhood friends who attended Garner High School and then NC State University together (and who now live together, in a place they’ve dubbed, of course, the Raleighwood House), the two are, both online and off, contagiously upbeat and almost offensively wholesome.
Having evolved from a run of T-shirts that Les made back in high school, their Raleighwood label now encompasses a burgeoning portfolio of creative activities, from digital content production to event curation and more, of which Raleighwood Festival is just the most prominent part.
“Growing up as an artist, that’s always one of your biggest dreams, having a festival back home,” says Les. “I just had dreams of starting something where we can continue to platform all the people that we think are dope, because growing up around this place, a lot of people don’t have those opportunities or don’t even think it’s possible.”
That desire to platform their favorite artists has resulted in a lineup that indie North Carolina dreams are made of—including Sonny Miles, leroy, Nia J, Biking with Francis, BigBabyGucci, Khalil Nasim, Reuben Vincent—and throwing in others like breakout Cary boy band Weston Estate for good measure.
As much as the Carolina-first curation and hometown feel might suggest a prideful, “locals only” sensibility, the scale of Raleighwood Fest 2.0 makes it clear that Ricky and Les are embracing change and welcoming (and frankly, relying on) the area’s numerous newcomers with open arms. In that way, their festival might just be the quintessential event for this moment, in this city, in which the big question seems to be whether transformational growth is possible without losing touch with one’s roots. Pushing a place forward while staying true to its essence is a tough job no matter who’s doing it, but it’s hard to think of better stewards for Raleigh than Ricky and Les.
“A lot of the time, coming up here and growing up in North Carolina, the classic thing is people want to leave North Carolina,” says Ricky. “Nobody wants to really stay here. Everybody wants to go. So it’s kind of trying to shift that culture. We can make something special here, too.”
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
INDY: Can you talk about what North Carolina means to you guys and specifically, within that, what Raleigh means?
Ricky: I’m from Garner. Les is from Garner, too. Just being born and raised here, coming up, you really had to get creative as a kid. You just had time to go outside with your friends and stuff like that. It’s really wholesome Southern living out here. And so I think just over time, you fall in love with the people you go to school with. In middle school, high school, there’s these traditions that are made, and you start to fall in love with where you’re from and the people that are there. Growing up right here in Raleigh, what do you do for fun? You go to Walmart or you go to Target and Cookout, or you go downtown and ride Lime scooters. So for me, it’s that the people that made me who I am are all from here.
Les: I love just the nuance of North Carolina. You get some of the things that you get in some of the bigger places, but it doesn’t have to be so overt in your face. And I think that embodies a lot of the Carolina people that I’ve grown to love over my time. I love being able to chill, get some time to slow down, but still be able to get active and do the things that we do within the city.
Growing up, it also meant a lot to me to see the music scene. Even when I first got to campus [at NC State], I spent a lot of time not with my classmates and in my major but outside in the music world, just doing so many different things. It’s been fun to watch that scene grow over time, starting with being in one of the cypher clubs for the first time, spitting for them, and them just showing me so much love and having their arm around me.
As far as starting a festival, when did that seed first get planted? What was the gap that y’all were looking to address that wasn’t being filled?
Les: Growing up as an artist, that’s always one of your biggest dreams—having a festival back home. I just had dreams of starting something where we can continue to platform all the people that we think are dope, because growing up around this place, a lot of people don’t have those opportunities or don’t even think it’s possible. So being able to bring what we see every day to light is such a dope thing. I think what unites us is [that] we just want to bring people to a good time. We want to curate something special, and a festival is such a great way to do that. Bringing people out to an art scene, creative scene, and having good music.
Ricky: I think it’s important to understand where Raleighwood the brand started, as well. Thinking back to high school, I mean, this is Les’s frickin’ baby, man. The first-ever Raleighwood T-shirts, the screenprinted ones, this was in high school. And Les is out here trapping Raleighwood shirts, dude, and they’re selling like hot cakes. And we’re all getting it because, one, we really like the name, but two, everybody really wanted to support Les and what he was doing.
Of course, it wasn’t everybody in the world, but it was the kids from the neighborhood, the football team, the basketball team, all these different sectors of people that we were able to bring together all through this one channel—and that was supporting the kid from school that we really thought was going to make it. And we still believe in that.
There is this living, breathing ecosystem of kids that are out here making good shit. And I just wanted the world to hear it, too.
Les is right—as a kid coming up here, we just wanted to have a cool festival. But then I’m 18, 19, going to [NC State], I’m meeting Zack Cokas for the first time, I’m meeting Marco Luka, Abel Maasho, all the guys from Weston [Estate]. We’re all just kids—freshmen, sophomores—and I’m mind-blown. Because here I was thinking [about Lesthegenius] like, “Yo, this is the one, this is the only one around here,” and then lo and behold, there is this living, breathing ecosystem of kids that are out here making good shit. And I just wanted the world to hear it, too.
This year’s festival is a step up in terms of scale and ambition. I was wondering what the biggest challenges have been for y’all in putting it together?
Les: I think the biggest challenge is just helping people see the vision. It’s hard because every time we embark on a new journey, we’re crossing off something new that we haven’t done before. So every time we’re trying to do something different or reinvent ourselves, it’s always going to be harder to get people to see the vision, especially when it comes to a creative entity. The easiest part is when it comes to the lineup, because everybody’s the homies, so when we’re putting together this big thing, everybody’s just like, “Sounds amazing.” But it’s bringing this idea to life in a way, like, “Oh, you guys have the artists, but what really makes the festival work? What is the way that we want to present things?” We don’t want to just bring people to a location, put a stage there, and call it a day. That’d be sad.
You have to build trust with people that you can actually put it on.
Ricky: Yeah, that they’re going to get something more than just a music performance, and a good one at that. But people are inspired to do great things. That’s what I’m here to do—because we can only do so much, even you and I, we only have two hands. We only have 24 hours in the day. But if I can inspire the world to go do great things and pour their love and their heart into these things and these people, we can make a lot out of a little.
As far as that lineup, it feels like such a testament to the talent that’s out here right now. Besides them being homies or friends who you’ve come up with, how did you curate it? What were you looking for, and for future years, what are you looking for?
Les: The first one, the lineup was our close, immediate friends. We had three headliners: Trent the Hooligan, Flower in Bloom, Ace Henderson, and me; that was it. But then this year, expanding out to a lot of the other homies in this age of Carolina that ushered in a new scene. So headlined by Weston Estate, Marco Luka …
Ricky: We’re trying to depict “before us,” “during us,” and “after us.” There’s the people that were [catching the end of] the blog era and stuff like that, and us as teenagers we’re witnessing that in real time. That’s something that inspired us. So having those types of artists is great, and it’s a reason why we’re here today.
And then we have our era, coming up in college, meeting all these great artists that, apart from being our friends, just so happened to be some of the best creators that we have in the scene. And then we also have the newcomers, the people that are breaking ground right now, and they’re making do with what they have. That’s what we love to see as well, we love people that break through the barriers and barricades and push the limits creatively just with the things that are right here in NC.
Les: Also, new albums, people that are promoting new music currently.
Ricky: Yeah. We get really excited for artists that are active. They care about their supporters and their branding and their music and the way they package it, present it, and roll it out continuously throughout their career. It’s like, “If you give a fuck, I can try to give a fuck too.”
As far as trying to sell tickets and get people out to a big event, I wanted to ask if anything feels different now compared to pre-COVID, in terms of live events and the challenges. It seems like a lot has changed in terms of all the entertainment that people have been given and how used to being inside people got. Obviously, Taylor Swift and Travis Scott aren’t having trouble selling tickets, but in the tier below that of regional and local things, it can be hard.
Les: I think the biggest thing when it comes to that is providing value and a reason to be outside. After being cooped up, a lot of the people that we’re seeing around in the scene want something to be outside for, but there’s not much that they’re able to find. So trying to curate something that allows you to want to come outside for the whole time.
You don’t have to plan, like, “Damn, I want to come, but I’m going to come at nine to 11” or “I’m only going to come at 10.” It’s like, no—you can come at any time, and it’s going to be a great show. I think we’re shooting more so for those people, people who are eager to be outside and people who are looking for something new in the city, and I think we have enough people yearning for that experience.
Ricky: I think we have a thriving scene here of young people. People are moving to Raleigh, North Carolina, and these are things that they want. They want a really nice festival with some great artists and a full lineup of vendors and things like that. There’s definitely going to be a lot of kids that this is their first time ever listening to this music; a lot of younger adults, that it’s their first time.
Growing up in North Carolina, the classic thing is people want to leave. Nobody wants to really stay here. Everybody wants to go. So it’s kind of trying to shift that culture. We can make something special here, too.
I kind of feel like it was [once] the same way for me, and the first time I heard it, it changed me forever. It made me realize the special things that you can do right here, no matter where you are in the world. Yeah, a lot of the time, coming up here and growing up in North Carolina, the classic thing is people want to leave North Carolina. Nobody wants to really stay here. Everybody wants to go. So it’s kind of trying to shift that culture. We can make something special here, too.
It feels like a specific moment, too, because Dreamville’s sort of in flux, Hopscotch seems to be leaning away from hip-hop more, so there’s an opportunity for some leadership in that space to be like, “This is the thing.” Is that something y’all talked about or see as part of the context as you do this?
Les: For sure. I think it’s just perfect timing. Only God can do that. We love that they’ve laid a groundwork and infrastructure to do [festivals], but just as creatives and lovers of art, there’s some things you’d want to do differently, with your own day and time. So I think the biggest thing for us is being able to curate, advocate on behalf of the artists that are here, and be able to hold the artistic integrity when it comes to putting on shows, festivals, and curating things.
Ricky: Yeah, we’ve talked about it recently too, when the [Hopscotch] lineup came out earlier this year. Hopscotch in the past has done great as far as covering rap, R&B, things like that, like in the past it was Earthgang, Miguel, Mereba. We’ve had representation. But yeah, right now it was just perfect timing that there wasn’t as much rap, pop, R&B, and soul in this year’s festival, and thankfully ours is full of that.
The festival is not in the downtown footprint—is that something you’d want to do in the future, or do you actually just want more space, and it’s hard to make that happen in downtown Raleigh proper?
Les: This means a lot to us. I think having this spot [is] bigger to us personally than having any spot downtown, because we’re right there on the south side. I grew up five minutes down the street, Ricky as well—that’s the stomping ground. So being able to put on that show, bring that many people out to that side where everything started for us, it’s really, really big. And it’s close enough where it’s still not too far from downtown.
Ricky: Yeah, it’s home. Being right there off of Poole Road it means a lot for the city, yes, but I feel like for the community that I come from, the Hispanic people, like, yeah, that’s our stomping grounds, our festival site. It’s where our people gather all the time for any event, whether it’s a baptism or a quinceañera or a wedding or somebody’s birthday—it’s family. And so to have it there and host such a historical moment in the city, it means a lot personally.
One last thing, to put you on the spot: favorite artist on the bill for each of you.
Les: That’s hard. I’ll say favorite performances I’m looking forward to. I definitely want to see Marco [Luka]. I’m excited for leroy. And Maasho.
Ricky: I agree with Maasho. I always get really excited for people to witness him perform just because of the way he can control the crowd and how, dude, I’ve seen him flip switches in real time and bring life into the room in a matter of seconds. So yeah, that’s going to be a great performance. I’m also excited for …
Obviously, you like all of them.
Ricky: I know … that’s crazy, I’m like, “Yo, do I gotta go look at the lineup?” No. I’m excited for Sonny Miles.
You can always pick Sonny Miles.
Ricky: Sonny Miles, brother.
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