Good 'Wood

I pull up the Raleighwood playlist on Apple Music as I get ready to make the drive from downtown Durham to a private field in Raleigh, just off I-440 on Poole Road. It’s the site where Lesthegenius and DJ Ricky Ricardo are hosting the second annual edition of their homegrown music festival, on a perfect day that’s not too summery but somehow doesn’t feel like fall yet, either.

The lineup is stacked. If you’ve been listening to the Supe of the Day playlists, you know the roster. Per Raleighwood’s marketing materials, the acts are “99% NC” (the outlier being headliner Jordan Ward), and it’s all the artists you’d want to hear. But we’ve all been to a festival where the sum total somehow fell short of the parts. I’ll never forget seeing Kendrick, Nas and Kanye back-to-back-to-back in New York and coming away only mildly whelmed. 

Maasho plays in my car, followed by Justomobbin, Cloudy Nueve, Trent Josiah, Sonny Miles and Cyanca. Damn, this shit is good. 

Walking into the festival feels impressive, but most importantly, it feels truly genuine and homegrown. The security guys are super nice and so are the shuttle bus drivers, and I think that’s Ricky’s mom helping run the GA parking? 

Trent Josiah is on stage in an “I Love NC” shirt (made by Owie) that he soon takes off,  revealing a Michael Jordan UNC jersey underneath. I approve. His set is sincere and tight — on theme with the event as a whole. It obviously means a lot for all of these acts to play this stage, but I’ll be damned if almost every set isn’t entirely on point with the perfect blend of heart and execution. 

The sound, too, is good. The bass throttles in that satisfying way. I can hear every verse. The video production is nearly flawless, typical of Raleighwood’s knack for quality control. There’s two beautiful screens on either side of the stage and the live video feed is perfectly rendering the golden light (diffused by an on-stage fog machine), with lush, deep green trees backing each artist. 

I make my way to the back of the grounds where there’s an abundance of food trucks, pop-up shops, and a gallery with photos from Zion McKnight, among other attractions. Mikey Sharks is DJing in one of the tents — when I approach, he turns down my dap and insists on a hug. I get to tell Fess how good the visuals look for his new album and he says we need to hoop soon. Photographer Elle Joseph comes up and introduces herself, after I had just been admiring her work online. After his set, Reuben Vincent, Watty Tha Shepherd, and others crowd into one of the DJ tents to spit over beats. 

The golden hour sequence of Leroy, Vincent, Cyanca and Sonny Miles is an NC hip-hop lover’s dream. After the sun sets, Sonny comes out to the audience for an enthusiastic embrace with Ricky’s dad. The elder Ricardo (aka “Big Rick”) clearly had a huge hand in pulling off the festival, but Sonny is telling me about how much he’s also been there to listen to and encourage the Winston-Salem artist along the course of his career, too. 

Sonny gets back up on stage — he’s a constant across the grounds through the evening. The family feel crescendos with Lesthegenius’s set before headliner Jordan Ward closes out the night with an exclamation point.

As I get on the shuttle bus to return to my car, I can’t help but identify with the attendee who is already calling a friend to gloat. “The acts were gas bro it was soo worth it, I was so locked in,” the guy tells his friend. “You coulda been here, bro.” 

Damn, I think quietly to myself. That shit was good. 

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Jeyhoun Allebaugh is photo editor at Super Empty, and forever studying film & photo, flash, focus, record. He is interested in how storytelling animates community and is born and bred Durham, NC. You can find him on Instagram @jeyhoun.