Disco began in New York City in the early 1970s, emerging from underground dance parties for marginalized communities, including Black, Latinx, and gay people. DJs like David Mancuso at his Loft parties in 1970 helped kickstart the movement by playing danceable R&B, with the new sound developing as similar clubs adopted and adapted it to attract diverse audiences. The term “disco” itself was derived from the European “discotheques” and became the name for the genre as the underground scene grew into a mainstream phenomenon by the mid to late 1970s.Â