PRODUCER SPOTLIGHT: TOKIMONSTA
Even within the male-dominated music industry, plenty of female and nonbinary artists are making strides against the odds in every genre. When it comes to the electronic/dance scene, TOKiMONSTA is at the forefront. Born Jennifer Lee, TOKiMONSTA is a classically trained music producer and label owner. While her music is often categorized as electronic/EDM, her sounds are expansive– fusing hip-hop, jazz, and electronic into one form, she captivates listeners worldwide.
TOKiMONSTA’s musical training began with piano lessons as a child. During these lessons, she was only allowed to play sheet music, and this limitation discouraged her from pursuing a career in music. However, she did continue to produce music as a hobby and attended the University of California Irvine. During college, she was a regular at beats battles at the South Los Angeles Project Blow– an open-mic event that formed a hub for emcees, dancers, and producers in the hip hop scene.
After college, she got a job at a video game company but was eventually laid off. After being laid off a second time from a job in advertising, she decided to take a year off and focus on her music career completely. She went all-in and was soon booking herself for tours, with her music gaining a following on major platforms. During this time, music was not her main source of income.
Her first album release was Midnight Menu, under Flying Lotus’ record label Brainfeeder. Midnight Menu is a wonderful album that playfully fuses elements of jazz and hip-hop with other genres. Her next release was Creature Dreams, which she created in collaboration with many vocalists. After Creature Dreams, TOKiMONSTA continued to feature vocalists, eventually collaborating with artists including Jessie Ware, Anderson .Paak, and Kelly Rowland.
TOKiMONSTA has always believed in creating music for the sake of happiness. Her willingness to explore and her appreciation for different genres is evident in her music, as she takes the time to learn new gear, sounds, and software. In 2014 she created her own label, Young Art Sound, and released two compilation albums featuring rising artists under her label.
In 2015, she was diagnosed with a rare disease called Moya-Moya, where blood vessels that supply blood to the brain are narrowed. She faced the choice of going through potentially life-saving surgery or living with her disease. After going through surgery, she was unable to speak and could not understand speech or music. This made the post-surgery period even more difficult for her since she had always turned to music during hard times. It wasn’t until she went against her doctor’s orders and began regularly walking on a treadmill that she started noticing progress. As she was healing, she slowly started to understand speech and music again.
Post-surgery, the first song TOKiMONSTA completed was I Wish I Could featuring Selah Sue. She continued performing, even playing festivals like Coachella and South by Southwest. She went on to release Lune Rogue, a studio album featuring a variety of different moods and collaborations. The album was Grammy-nominated in the Best Dance/Electronic category.
TOKiMONSTA continues to be active in the music scene. She headed a virtual event entitled “Every Woman” to highlight women in music through panels and performances for Women’s History Month in 2021. In 2020, she released Oasis Nocturno, an instrumental album. We know TOKiMONSTA has plenty more in store and we’re looking forward to her next event in the scene!