Sade Adu is back after six years hiatus with a special release dedicated to his trans son, Izaak.

“Young Lion” is part of the compilation album, TRAИƧAwhich is described as a “spiritual journey celebrating trans people.” On the emotional ballad, the Love Deluxe The singer sings: “Young man/ It’s been so heavy for you/ You must have felt so alone/ The anguish and the pain/ I should have known/ With such a heavy burden/ You had to carry it all alone/ Forgive me my son. »

The four-minute video includes footage of Sade and his son spanning nearly three decades.

Izaak reacted to the new single on Instagram sharing a clip from the clip with the caption: “Mom, thank you for doing this… This is so important to me, and I think it will be to many others too.” Thank you for always giving me the freedom to be ME and loving me fiercely through it all. I couldn’t do it without you. You are incredible. I love you more than words can say.

He thinks about his first thoughts on the disk with rolling stone. “Even though I had nothing to forgive him for, the words, ‘Forgive me, son, I should have known,’ struck a chord,” he shared via email. “My mother never tried to oppress the boy; Silently, I always knew I was. She always let me be me.

Hot red, the non-profit organization behind the project, noted that Sade agreed to participate after artist and activist Massima Bell wrote her a personal letter thanking her for her son’s public support. After hearing “Young Lion,” Bell remembers, “I was in tears (…) His voice was so full. »

About the project as a whole, Red Hot said in a statement: “Trans people have always existed, under many different names across time and culture, often as healers and spiritual leaders. As global systems continue to fail humanity and all life on Earth, the journey taken by trans people – and all people who have been oppressed – is a model of possibility. May this be a glimpse of our collective liberation and the light that lies within each of us.

The album also includes a new single from Andrew 3000 titled “Something is happening and I may not fully understand, but I’m happy to defend that understanding.” » Listen above.

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