Techno music emerged in the United States during the 1980s, gaining global popularity in the 1990s. It was created by middle-class African-American youths in Detroit, who were fascinated by European electronic dance music.
In 1985, Detroit deejay-producers Derrick May, Juan Atkins, and Kevin Saunderson began attracting attention with their innovative music. In 1988, Atkins named a track “Techno Music,” which appeared on the defining anthology Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit, formalizing the style. Crossing the Atlantic, early tracks such as Rythim Is Rythim’s “Strings of Life,” Atkins’s “No UFOs” (released under the moniker Model 500), and Inner City’s “Good Life” incited excitement on European dance floors.