Ember LaFiamma is part of the future Detroit promised.

She grew up in the city surrounded by the sound — techno, house, ghetto tech— without knowing what the world called it by name.

Later, she learned that the music that shaped her was born right here.

Her journey deepened at the Underground Music Academy, where she learned to build beats from scratch and sharpened her skills as a DJ and producer. There, she began to truly understand the legacy — and the labor — behind the sound.

LaFiamma is not just performing, she is building. She co-leads Homie Hangz, a nonprofit that hosts free and donation-based DJ sessions and production workshops in community spaces across Detroit. She makes her own music, teaches, and builds bridges.

She is now preparing to open the Detroit stage at the Movement festival on Saturday. So, what does it mean to carry forward a sound rooted in resistance and innovation?

LaFiamma joined The Metro to talk about her journey, her city, and the community she’s helping to shape.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

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Detroit made techno. It was born in Black brilliance, forged in sweat, steel, and speaker stacks. The early days were gritty, raw, and unapologetically underground.

Raves in asbestos-riddled warehouses. DJ booths balanced on plywood. Sweaty bodies packed into buildings with no heat, no permits, just purpose. The Packard Plant, Mack and Bellevue, and the Eastown Theatre were places the city gave up on. But the music briefly revived them. Bass shook the dust loose. Rhythm fought its way through the speakers. It was joy, communion and resistance, but on a subterranean level.

Then came a turning point: the first Detroit Electronic Music Festival in 2000, led by Carl Craig, which is known today as Movement. For once, an underground scene had risen to the surface. Slowly, the world took note. Detroit — the birthplace of techno — was getting its due.

But not completely. Even now, it is hard to make a living in Detroit as an electronic music artist and many leave for cities like Los Angeles and Berlin. So what will it take to change that?

DJ and producer John Collins of Underground Resistance — a group built from the city’s renegade spirit and refusal to be erased — joined The Metro to discuss Detroit’s techno legacy and the artists preserving and growing it.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

More stories from The Metro