INSIDE VAULT SEVEN is a documentary charting the conceptual trajectory and hybrid methodology of Taji Ra’oof Nahl—also known as TR7. An autodidact and interdisciplinary practitioner, Nahl has coined the term “artistic journalism” to describe his evolving body of work: a critical mode that fuses research, performance, sound, and visual language to investigate and document the historical, architectural, and psychic spaces of African American life. This cinematic project traces Nahl’s transformation from acclaimed gallery founder (Taji Modern Gallery, 1999–2010) to fashion designer, playwright, composer, and social sculptor. Organized through the metaphor of the “vault,” the film provides a guided entry into TR7’s conceptual universe—where performance becomes archival tool, surveillance becomes score, and beekeeping becomes blueprint. The title INSIDE VAULT SEVEN is drawn from one of TR7’s signature frameworks: a multimedia inquiry into containment, control, and creative resistance. It also signals the broader infrastructure of his Ra’oof Atelier project ecosystem, which spans large-scale installations (Calculating Banneker), collaborative variety shows (Renaissance Report Live), and experimental music collectives (The Other Sounds of Philadelphia). Featuring original footage and voiceover by TR7, as well as contributions from collaborators including Hprizm, Julius Masri, Jair-Rohm Parker Wells, and Aaron Terry, the film highlights Nahl’s role as both artist and documentarian—one who archives in real time. His approach to artistic journalism centers on rendering invisible histories visible, converting research into experience, and engaging audiences as co-investigators of cultural memory. Ultimately, INSIDE VAULT SEVEN positions TR7 not simply as a multidisciplinary artist, but as a systems thinker and civic dramatist, mapping networks of influence across media, generations, and geographies.

TR7’s The Other Sounds of Philadelphia: Almost Live Live from ElectricLattéLand! Ra'oof Atelier & 2Spiral presents the ten year anniversary of House of Ra'oof's / Animated Man solo exhibition: Renaissance Report. Taji Ra’oof Nahl aka TR7 is an American interdisciplinary A/V artist whose sound design is rooted in the avant-garde tradition of experimentation of audio dynamics. Traversing ambient, free jazz, funk, noise, and hip hop sonic pallets. +a few people sitting in. This will be a virtual presentation.

Live at Ice Station Zero - featuring, Ihba Baskette, Jason Carr, Mark Dilks, & Ryoko Ohara. 

Another Other Sounds of Philadelphia  convening

Beyond The Black Desk is a time-spanning video essay that reflects on the enduring impact of government surveillance and spiritual transformation within African American Muslim communities. Rooted in the historical realities beginning in 1975 and produced across a ten-year period (2015–2025), the film unpacks the operations of “The Black Desk,” a COINTELPRO unit that centralized FBI intelligence and targeted Black institutions—particularly the Nation of Islam. At the center of the film is the historic leadership of Imam W. D. Muhammad, who guided the Nation of Islam through a vast theological and cultural reorientation into Sunni Islam. This was not only a doctrinal shift, but a spatial and ritual realignment: chairs removed, carpets installed, and sujood—prostration—embraced as an embodied return to Qur’anic orthodoxy and global Muslim identity. Interweaving archival material, lived testimony, and spatial symbolism, Beyond The Black Desk reveals how African American Muslims navigated external attempts at destabilization while undergoing an internal journey of purification and clarity. It is a meditation on surveillance, sovereignty, and sacred restoration—an audiovisual portal into a fifty-year struggle for spiritual autonomy in the face of systemic disruption.