‘Transa’—A New Idea Album That includes Sade, Anohni, Yaeji, Clairo, André 3000, and Many Extra Artists—Is a Well timed Celebration of Trans Life

When Crimson Scorching producer Mud Reid and artist and activist Massima Bell started placing collectively the bold idea album Transa (styled TRAИƧA) in 2021, they couldn’t have imagined that its launch—a number of years later, in November 2024—would coincide with the reelection of Donald Trump, and, not unrelatedly, one of many largest spikes in anti-trans coverage and rhetoric in current reminiscence. Now, to hearken to the mission, which options greater than 100 artists (amongst them, Adrianne Lenker, André 3000, Anohni, Hunter Schafer, Fragrance Genius, and Sade Adu) appears like a small but potent act of insurrection, holding up the artistic genius that trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming musicians have been providing to the world for generations.

This week, Vogue spoke to Bell (whom eagle-eyed vogue obsessives would possibly acknowledge from Nan Goldin’s current Gucci marketing campaign) about releasing Transa on the precipice of a second Trump presidency, honoring the legacy of Sophie, witnessing Sade’s highly effective love and assist for her trans son, and creating artwork that goals to make trans folks really feel “needed and adored.”

Vogue: How does it really feel to formally have the album out on the planet?

Massima Bell: It’s so lovely. This mission has been, no less than for me personally, such a love letter to and for and by the trans folks in my life and past, and it’s been such a phenomenal factor for all these folks to sort of take just a little little bit of refuge in. That’s been actually, actually particular and valuable.

Does the discharge of the album really feel totally different than you’d anticipated?

We began this mission in 2021, earlier than the rise in anti-trans hate rhetoric and anti-trans laws within the US. We didn’t begin the mission from a spot of responding to that; we actually needed the mission to middle love and celebration of the of the trans neighborhood and all of the presents that we as trans folks deliver to the world. The truth that it has come out now, at this type of cliff’s edge by way of what we are able to count on within the subsequent 12 months…even simply from what I’ve seen already, by way of how persons are responding to this mission, it appears like one thing folks must have on the planet, significantly proper now. We couldn’t have anticipated it taking place on this second, however it feels prefer it couldn’t have come at a extra wanted time. I’m actually grateful that we may make it occur via this group Crimson Scorching, which has at all times accomplished issues in a means that’s extra radical than how I’ve seen these sort of profit initiatives or institutional charities do issues previously.