Trace Lysette, the iconic actress best known for her roles in Transparent and Hustlers, just made her debut as a musical artist, and it’s honestly unfair how talented she is.
On Friday, the 33-year-old released a rap song called “SMB.” Standing for “self-made bitch,” the title isn’t just about her career but also her “womanhood,” as she explains to Out magazine. “That shit was not handed to me,” she says, “it was a battle.” She adds that the track is “definitely a nod to my trans sisters.”
Over a beat produced by Tero Golden and Big Rula, Lysette reels off braggadocious lines about her “kitty smelling like roses” and even pays tribute to her ball scene past with some queer New York lingo. “Hollywood glam with a side of banjee cunt/She don’t take shit and, yeah, she do just what she want,” she raps.
Lysette also brings the looks in a corresponding music video directed by the performer herself, along with Pose actor Johnny Sibilly. Parading around the streets of Los Angeles, she rocks a crop-top that says “femme queen.” But in the house, all she wears is a Gucci swimsuit, which she says on Twitter is a “nod to her house” of Gorgeous Gucci, paired with a sheer pink robe.
The song is tied to Lysette’s appearance in the upcoming film Venus as a Boy, which the writer and director Ty Hodges has described as a “journey to self-love.” (The title inspired by Björk’s 1993 song of the same name.) Hodges approached Lysette to write a track for the film, as she explains to Out. “It was like the universe knocking on my door asking me ‘Trace, what’s good?’” she says.
There are also “a couple other songs I’m tossing around in my head,” Lysette teases, saying that she wouldn’t “rule out” a remix for “SMB.” Other collaborators she has in mind are Mila Jam and RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Kylie Sonique.
The debut of “SMB” debut also coincides with the arrival of the first trailer for Lysette’s new documentary series Trans in Trumpland, which she’s executive producing alongside Chella Man and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, as well as Ryan Chanatry and Jeff Seelbach. For the four-part series, director Tony Zosherafatain traveled to North Carolina, Texas, Mississippi, and Idaho to document the experiences of four trans individuals during the Trump presidency.
Trans in Trumpland premieres February 25.
Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for them.’s weekly newsletter here.
