Storied activist and music production non-profit Red Hot, who last year released the acclaimed concept album ‘TRAИƧA’, has unveiled the music video for André 3000’s expansive contribution, the 26-minute track “Something Is Happening And I May Not Fully Understand But I’m Happy To Stand For The Understanding.” The visual is a dense tapestry weaving together 2D and 3D landscapes with organic and digitally composed subjects. Drawing deep inspiration from Édouard Glissant’s ‘Poetic Intention’ and the opaque aesthetics of fifth-generation console games, the video investigates what it means “to conceive the world as a relation” and “as a poetics of alterity.”
André 3000’s track sits at the helm of ‘TRAИƧA’s’ “Awakening” chapter, guiding a process of expansion alongside the listener. The piece marks a new era for the artist of composing without bars; stretching nearly a half-hour, its mystical chatter and unfolding ceremony become a new kind of language—a tongue for hearing. The track features a host of collaborators, including Carlos Niño, Deantoni Parks / Technoself, and Nate Mercereau, with additional contributions from Diego Gaeta, Maia, Matthewdavid, Shabaka, and V.C.R., showcasing a true collective of daring musical imagination.
‘TRAИƧA’ marks one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken by Red Hot, involving over 100 artists in a spiritual journey across eight chapters and 46 songs. The sprawling collection, which began production in 2021, spotlights the gifts of many of the most imaginative trans and non-binary artists working today. Beyond the lengthy André 3000 piece, the album features the first Sade song in six years, along with contributions from ANOHNI, Sam Smith, Laura Jane Grace, Hunter Schafer, Teddy Geiger, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, and Julien Baker, among many others.
The necessity of the album’s presence in the world became acutely crystallized for producers Dust Reid and Massima Bell as the political climate grew reactionary, with legislation denying trans people rights and book bans proliferating globally. Bell, a trans person from Iowa, noted, “The stakes have never been higher,” emphasizing the severity of the anti-trans hate and vitriol spreading across the United States. Rooted in both devotion to nature and galvanized by the passing of pathbreaking electronic producer SOPHIE, the album serves as a vital piece of art offering comfort and inspiring genuine empathy in a terrifying time.