Meta — formerly known as Facebook — is giving Oculus Quest 2 users the opportunity to have a jam session with The Roots and attend a virtual Young Thug concert for Black History Month. Accessible through the Horizon Venues app, the two concerts are just part of the programming planned for the month. In addition to The Roots jam session and Thugger concert, DJ Snoopadelic will spin a set of his favorite hip-hop and funk, while Bounce icon Big Freedia will deliver a New Orleans dance party for the ages.
And while the music might be the highlight, there will be educational experiences too, including VR experiences about “Traveling While Black,” America’s history of protest, reform, activism, and social justice, and a virtual visit to the White House with President Barack Obama. New VR content will be made available each week, while Facebook’s Lift Black Voices hub will offer more traditional content, and Instagram will have its own collection of Reels and video series highlighting Black history — which is really just American history without the filter of default whiteness. You can find out more here.
As for The Roots, Big Freedia, and Young Thug, they’ve all been keeping busy with various projects. The Roots’ Questlove and Black Thought recently launched their Disney Plus series “Rise Up, Sing Out,” and Questlove has been nominated for an Oscar for his documentary, Summer Of Soul. Meanwhile, Young Thug is helping his artist Gunna “push P” and Big Freedia is fresh off a 2021 spent remixing huge pop hits by Lady Gaga and Rebecca Black.