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Songs We Love: Violet, 'Transition'

With "Transition," the techno group Underground Resistance sought to inspire self-actualization in black, working-class Detroit. The song's words didn't seduce or entrance, like so much club fodder ― they commanded: "Just point yourself in the direction of your dreams / Find your strength from the sound, and make your transition." Now, that directive has found a new audience with a cover from Violet, a London producer who recruited a team of women electronic musicians to revisit the song for International Women's Day.

Violet's take on "Transition" arrives amid renewed discussion of misogyny in EDM, a term usually used to describe the sort of bludgeoning electronic dance music that fills arenas. Does EDM have a woman problem? What about a straight white guy problem? The answer to both is probably yes, if you consider the scene's male-dominated festival lineups, its culture of objectification and the gender imbalance of Forbes' list of highest-paid DJs. But women aren't absent from electronic music as much as they're drowned out, and that's part of what makes this version of "Transition" so invigorating.

Nancy Whang, Nightwave, Coco Solid, Mamacita and Honey ― Violet's partner in A.M.O.R. ― deliver Underground Resistance's message of empowerment in four languages. Unlike the way women's voices tend to be presented in EDM, they're not crooning, whimpering or being mocked with upspeak. Which in turn invites the question: Could this be the transition EDM needs?

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Ally Schweitzer (she/her) is an editor with NPR's Morning Edition. She joined the show in October 2022 after eight years at WAMU, the NPR affiliate in Washington.