It’s Thursday night at the Loft, just after midnight, and a rush of people are flooding the dance floor under spinning, pulsing strobe lights. Essential to sustaining the crowd’s ecstatic fervor, DJ Infamy skillfully manipulates the turntables creating the perfect dance club blend of hip hop music.

DJ Infamy is Athens’ own Amy Chen, now a University senior.

“Hip hop saved my life,” said Chen. “Not in the sense that I was suicidal before, but in that it helped me feel comfortable in who I am. The culture embraces everyone, no matter their background.”

Growing up, Chen didn’t feel as if she fit in anywhere. She’s the youngest of four siblings, with the oldest being 34. The Athens native was one of only two Asian students in both her elementary and middle schools as a child. The singularity caused her to struggle with her identity.

But in the seventh grade, she discovered hip hop.

“I found it intriguing that people expressed themselves that way. My siblings only listened to metal and rock when I was growing up,” she said. “Hip hop was something I ventured out into on my own. I was hooked. It helped me to grow as a person. I’m definitely more confident now.”

Chen began listening to artists such as The Beastie Boys, Mixmaster Mike and Grandmaster Flash. Toward the end of high school she branched out with Lupe Fiasco and Andre 3000.

“Conscientious rappers and hip hop that has meaning is what got me into [the genre],” Chen said. “The whole culture drew me in, but it started with the music.”

Chen started DJing two years ago, after befriending a DJ at Level 131 who taught her the craft. She was a DJ at Level for almost a year and now she’s a resident DJ at the Loft on Thursdays.

“I’ve been wanting to DJ since middle school, before I met DJ Blaze who taught me how to do it. But it’s an expensive hobby, so I had to wait,” Chen said. “[Until the opportunity arose] I learned everything I could about it through research.”

One of Chen’s favorite things to do in the industry is to meet other DJs and see how they do things. She says she wants to meet every DJ who’s serious about the art. She doesn’t want to copy other artists, but to see how others express themselves.

“When you’re DJing you have your own style. It’s like people have their own style of dress when they dress,” she said. “I’d eventually like to collaborate with bands and different artists. I’d also like to put together mixtapes. DJing is still making music, it’s just one’s interpretation of music that’s been previously recorded.”

The name DJ Infamy was given to Chen by a friend who made it up; for a while, she DJed without a name. The meaning of the word and her personality don’t quite align, but she likes that the title doesn’t sound feminine.

“The DJ world is predominantly male, and I don’t want to be pre-judged,” she said. “You need tough skin [in the entertainment industry.] You don’t know how tough it is until you’re in it. [Other than that], I like that it has ‘Amy’ in it.”