André 3000 Launches Stunning Video for TRAИƧA Contribution

Last year, the storied activist and music production non-profit Red Hot released the acclaimed concept album, TRAИƧA. Today, André 3000 has shared a music video for his contribution to the project, the 26-minute “Something Is Happening And I May Not Fully Understand But I’m Happy To Stand For The Understanding.” The video weaves a dense tapestry of 2D and 3D landscapes; organic subjects, digitally composed. Drawing inspiration from Édouard Glissant’s ‘Poetic Intention’ and the opaque aesthetics of fifth generation console games, it investigates what it means to “be born into the world…to conceive the world as a relation…as a poetics of alterity.”

This track by André 3000 sits at the helm of TRAИƧA’s “Awakening” chapter, guiding a process of expansion alongside the listener. It marks a new era for the artist of composing without bars. Stretching nearly half an hour, its mystical chatter and unfolding ceremony become a new kind of language—a tongue for hearing. The track features Carlos Niño, Deantoni Parks / Technoself and Nate Mercereau with Diego Gaeta, Maia, Matthewdavid, Shabaka, and V.C.R.

With production beginning in 2021, and over 100 artists contributing, TRAИƧA marks one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken by Red Hot – a spiritual journey across 8 chapters and 46 songs, spotlighting the gifts of many of the most daring, imaginative trans and non-binary artists working today. The sprawling collection of originals and covers features the first Sade song in 6-years, the 26-minute André 3000 piece whose accompanying video is out today, ANOHNI, Sam Smith, Laura Jane Grace, Hunter Schafer, Teddy Geiger, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Yaeji, Julien Baker, Clairo, and many more.

Dust Reid, who led production on Red Hot’s 2014 tribute to Arthur Russell, and Massima Bell, an artist and activist based in Los Angeles, began tracing the contours of what would become TRAИƧA together in 2021. The two producers originally met at a video shoot in upstate New York, and immediately bonded over their shared love of Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s music, as well as a common devotional connection to nature. The passing of SOPHIE, the pathbreaking electronic producer who died in January 2021, galvanized the producers and focused their work.

As they began inviting musicians to contribute to TRAИƧA, the political climate in the United States and across the world started to foment an acute reactionary streak. Legislation denying trans people the hard-won right to medically transition proliferated across the country. Book bans rained down on libraries, stamping shut crucial apertures into trans and queer lives. The necessity of TRAИƧA’s presence in the world started to crystallize.

“The stakes have never been higher,” notes Bell. “We’re seeing a rise in anti-trans hate and vitriol that is particularly being spewed in the United States. I am a trans person from Iowa, one of the states that signed into law a bill that prohibits access to gender-affirming care. It is clearly, materially, a terrifying time.”

A wooden shed covered in vines with the bold, red word 'TRAИƧA' artistically painted on its front, while a goat grazes in the foreground.

TRAИƧA Tracklist

A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY CELEBRATING TRANS PEOPLE FEATURING OVER 100 ARTISTS & 3 ½ HOURS OF MUSIC INCLUDING SADE, SAM SMITH, ANDRE 3000, BEVERLY GLENN-COPELAND, PERFUME GENIUS, HUNTER SCHAFER, L’RAIN, JULIEN BAKER, LAURA JANE GRACE, YAEJI, PHAROAH SANDERS, TEDDY GEIGER, CLAIRO, ADRIANNE LENKER + MANY MORE

About Red Hot:

Red Hot is a non-profit, activist music production company founded in 1989 by John Carlin and Leigh Blake. Originally formed in response to the AIDS epidemic, the organization has grown to champion an important range of social issues including human rights, equal access to healthcare, and more, with a focus on communities of color.

In the early 90’s, Red Hot brought together David Byrne, U2, George Michel, Nirvana, Patti Smith, Annie Lenox, Madonna and hundreds of others on three groundbreaking projects – Red Hot + Blue, Red Hot + Dance and No Alternative. Those albums raised millions of dollars to help fight against AIDS and support LGBTQ+ rights, and Red Hot were the only outside donor to ACT UP, and provided the initial funding for TAG (Treatment Action Group).

The last 30 years have seen Red Hot continue to curate diverse albums with a global impact (as documented by PBS, ABC and multiple MTV specials) through several hip hop albums (Stolen Moments, American Is Dying Slowly), albums highlighting communities in South America (Red Hot + Rio, Red Hot + Latin) and Africa (Red Hot + Riot.) In the 2000s, Red Hot’s work continued with two albums produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner at the start of their careers (Dark Was the Night and Day of the Dead) as well as tributes to Arthur Russell (Master Mix) and Tropicalia (Red Hot + Rio 2).