Tokimonsta

GRAMMY-nominated producer TOKiMONSTA (Jennifer Lee) has charted a fascinating career over the past decade. She is one of the most revered music producers as one of the pioneers of the seminal 2010 era “L.A. Beat Scene.” As a world-class performer, she ranks as one of the Top 100 DJs worldwide (DJ Mag) and has performed at nearly every major festival worldwide. From her 2010 debut album Midnight Menu to her most recent 2020 album Oasis Nocturno, her entire discography has drawn critical praise from NPR, BBC, LA Times, NY Times, DJ Mag, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Pitchfork and more. As it stands, her list of collaborators includes Anderson .Paak, EARTHGANG, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Yuna, ZHU, Bibi Bourelly, The Drums — and up-and-coming artists she seeks out to mentor. With over 400 million streams and counting, she remains in demand having remixed the likes of David Bowie, Sia, Beck, Duran Duran, Portugal the Man, Disclosure, ODESZA and Ólafur Arnalds.

Following her second album Half Shadows, TOKiMONSTA established and began releasing on her own label Young Art Records. Minialbums, Desiderium and FOVERE both featured artist Anderson .Paak and some of her most belovedsongs to date. After anchoring her label with her GRAMMY nomination, Young Art has continued to soar with notable releases being Rochelle Jordan’s Juno Award-nominated album Play with the Changes featuring production by KAYTRANADA, Jimmy Edgar and Machinedrum, and critically acclaimed album Svengali by Cakes da Killa (rated 4/5 stars by The Guardian).

At the end of 2015, her career temporarily came to a halt after being diagnosed with a rare and fatal cerebral vascular disease known as Moyamoya. After undergoing two consecutive brain surgeries, TOKiMONSTA was left with acute aphasia, meaning she could no longer verbally communicate. She soon discovered she had also lost the ability to comprehend the thing most important to her, music. Through perseverance and healing, her cognitive and creative faculties returned. Her Moyamoya journey gained more wide-spread attention after starring in the first season finale of the Netflix series Vox, Explained.