Sade sings heartfelt ode to her trans son on upcoming benefit album

Breaking her six-year hiatus from music, British-Nigerian legend Sade is set to contribute to upcoming transgender awareness album Transa, produced by Red Hot. Her track, titled “Young Lion”, is dedicated to her son Izaak and his journey as a transgender man.

“You must have felt so alone, I should have known,” Sade reportedly sings on the track, expressing both sympathy for Izaak’s struggle for gender affirmation, as well as guilt for not noticing sooner. The “Smooth Operator” singer’s only child documented his transition on Instagram. 

“It’s amazing to hear a legendary musician like Sade sing about her heartfelt experience as the parent of a trans child,” says album co-producer Massima Bell, who is both a model and transgender activist. “It’s incredibly powerful.”

The album is reported to feature over 100 artists across 46 tracks and eight chapters, a reference to the eight stripes on the Pride flag. Set to release November 20th, the album also features new original music from Sam Smith, Moses Sumney, André 3000, Laura Jane Grace, Fleet Foxes, and more. 

Red Hot was originally founded back in 1989 at the height of America’s AIDS epidemic, releasing the Red Hot + Blue compilation album which featured contemporary artists Annie Lennox, U2 and Neneh Cherry. The album sold over a million copies worldwide and raised over $1 million for AIDS charity ACT UP.

Red Hot executive director Dust Reid described how Transa was inspired by the tragic death of award-winning trans artist SOPHIE in 2021. The album is a celebration of the “gifts that trans people have been giving to the world,” commented Reid. “We hoped to create a narrative that positions trans and non-binary people as leaders in our society insofar as the deep inner work they do to affirm who they are in our current climate.”