Disc jockeys are typically seen as the guys who stand on stage spinning turntables and playing what the crowd wants, but freshman Josh Fagin puts a different spin on crowd pleasing.

Instead of playing the same genre for a whole show or blasting songs featured on the radio every half hour, Fagin, a St. Louis-native whose stage name is Jay Fay, makes sure he gives the crowd more variety.

“I think from a crowd point of view it’s more fun to have a completely diverse set,” Fagin said. “I’m a strong believer in giving the crowd something they didn’t know they wanted, rather than just playing songs they want so they’re satisfied.”

He said his age is what sets him apart from other DJs in the St. Louis and Columbia areas. Nine months ago, when he was still a 17-year-old senior in high school, Fagin began DJing and producing remixes as a hobby.

Since then, he has played at many clubs in Columbia and several in St. Louis, been noticed by record labels like Mad Decent and Top Billin and shared the stage with Drake, Wale, Tyga, The Hood Internet and Steve Aoki. His music is also beginning to circulate around the globe.

“He’s learned more and accomplished more than some people have in years of using some of the same programs,” friend and manager Dustin Kessler said.

Kessler and Fagin have known each other since third grade so it made sense for the two to work together. Fagin produces his works, and Kessler promotes Jay Fay with his photography and video skills and schedules bookings from Detroit to Columbia and everything in between.

To build up his national reputation, Jay Fay plans on spending most of his weekends on mini tours.

“The way it’s going to work is I’m not going to be able to take a block out of school, but what I’m going to do is try to go up to cities on Fridays and Saturdays,” he said.

Aside from mini-tours, Fagin has begun producing in a blossoming genre called moombahton. Moombahton is a genre that takes Dutch House music, slows it down to 110 bpm and gives it a dembow, or reggaeton, beat, he said.

“I think it’s important that he is producing moombahton at the time we’re at now because the genre is going to be getting really big really soon,” Kessler said. “What’s unique about moombahton is it went worldwide before it was in one place, and we’re able to get his tracks out to people all over the world because of the Internet.”

Kessler and Fagin said social media was their best tool for getting his music noticed. Fagin said detailed statistics from his SoundCloud allow him to see where his fans are located. France, Spain, South Africa and Indonesia are some countries catalogued in his fan base.

Although Fagin is focusing on branching out, he has no plans to neglect his Missouri fan base. He said he’ll continue to play shows in Columbia and St. Louis.

Fagin performed at Dirty Disco on Friday. The weekend before, he did a mini tour that went through Little Rock and Detroit and ended in St. Louis where he played London Calling. Next month, he’s opening for The Hood Internet at the Blue Note.

“You’ve got to get to get your hometown to support you before you move on to other places,” Fagin said.