Roots co-founder Black Thought (Tariq Trotter) and Impossible team up on a new cinematic experience that will drop audiences into hip hop’s soul.

Hip hop has a culturally vibrant history. Black Thought's vision for Rhyme & Refuge will sew together what it felt like to be present for iconic cyphers in the Bronx in the late 70s, with an aesthetic nod to the art of turntablists, phat breaks and cool jazz samples, all coloured with personal and emotional resonance. To boot, audiences will get to shape their experience as they move through their multi-room cinematic journey.

“I’m grateful to Impossible Creative for entrusting me with their technology in bringing my latest project to the world,” says Thought. 

Black Thought is teaming with Impossible Creative to write, develop, design, film and master the immersive experience; with Oscar-winning Summer of Soul docu-filmmaker Ahmir Thompson (Questlove) and Shawn Gee at Two One Five Entertainment also being tapped as producers on the new project.

“We’re ecstatic to be collaborating with Tariq and can’t wait to see what his unique genius will bring to the rapidly evolving field of immersive entertainment,” says Impossible co-founder and producer Charles Roy. "The early innovators in hip hop weren't just unleashing an art form that slays with its vibe and wit; these folks had their own stories – stories that glow with a sense of neighbourhood, the humour and swagger of real-time wordsmithing, the technology of the era, and a buoyant sense of self-worth. Something special was happening." 

Black Thought is the winner of two solo Grammy awards, three Grammy awards with The Roots and three NAACP Image Awards. He’s been involved in 11 albums with The Roots and several solo releases, all while leading the house band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. His solo albums include the acclaimed Streams of Thought series, Cheat Codes (with Danger Mouse), and Glorious Game (with El Michels Affair). His 2023 single for BET, “Love Letter,” earned the emcee his 14th Grammy nomination and first as a solo artist in the Best Rap Performance category. In addition to his recording career, Black Thought co-wrote, composed, arranged, and starred in the Off-Broadway play Black No More and also boasts acting credits in HBO’s The Deuce and Tick, Tick… Boom! Alongside fellow The Roots co-founder Questlove, Trotter launched the production company Two One Five Entertainment (TOF), which has produced for media partners such as Amazon, Disney, Netflix, AMC, BET, CNN, Showtime and YouTube.

Josh Williams will oversee the project on behalf of Two One Five, and studio/industry veteran Jonathan Schwartz, CCO of FanX Studios, will EP and oversee on behalf of Impossible Creative.

The WonderRoom Standard champions a venue-agnostic hardware–software mix that gives creative teams an end-to-end 360° scene creation workflow. 

Powered by WonderRoom + OpenXP, Rhyme & Refuge will be a remarkable foray into Immersive 2.0 – a paradigm shift in collective experiences.