In 2019, TOKiMONSTA was nominated for "Best Dance / Electronic Album" at the
Grammy Awards for her album Lune Rouge.[10] She was the first female Asian-American producer to receive a nomination in this category.[11]
Early life
TOKiMONSTA grew up in
Torrance, California.[12] Her parents immigrated to the US from South Korea; thus, she is first generation
Korean American.[3] She was raised by her mother who ran a small business to support their family.[13] As a young child, her mother tasked her with classical piano lessons. Lee has noted disliking lessons as a child, though she appreciates the structural foundation it created for her approach to composing and producing.
She graduated from
University of California, Irvine.[14] While studying, she first began producing music, using the Fruity Loops Studio digital audio workstation (DAW). She later progressed to producing using the Ableton Suite as her primary DAW. She participated in beat cyphers and battles at
Leimert Park's
Project Blowed and
Low End Theory.[15] Upon graduating, she worked for a video game publisher while continuing to make music and perform as a hobby. She would later be laid off due the US economic recession, and would decide to pursue music full time.[16][15]
Career
Lee was invited to attend the
Red Bull Music Academy in London in 2010.[17] She was the first woman to sign to
Flying Lotus's Brainfeeder label and released her first album, Midnight Menu, in November 2010 on
Brainfeeder.[18] She was rated the number one Hottest Los Angeles Lady DJ by LA Weekly in December 2010.[19] She released the EP Creature Dreams, also on Brainfeeder, in 2011.[20] The next year, she released Boom, an 11-track collaborative project with
Suzi Analogue as Analogue Monsta.[21]
In 2013, her second album, Half Shadows, was released on
Ultra Records.[22] In 2014, she released Desiderium on her own Young Art Records.[23] She returned to the Red Bull Music Academy that same year as an alumni lecturer.[24] She produced
Gavin Turek's You're Invited in 2015 on Young Art Records.[25] On September 9, 2015, she announced on Twitter the release of her solo album Fovere and she will be out on tour in support of her new album starting November 9, 2015.[26]
Lee was profiled in the 2020 documentary film Underplayed, in which she elaborated on the issue of diversity in the electronic dance music industry.[27]
In December 2022, Lee performed at the inaugural LA3C festival at the Hot Import Nights stage alongside EDM artists
Freya Fox, DJ Peach, Meirlin, DJ Accia, Lucid Lolo, DJ Rose Gold, and many others.[28][29][30]
Name
The name TOKiMONSTA originates from the
Korean word for rabbit (tokki), which she took from a Korean's children's song, "San Toki".[31][32]
Personal life
Lee was diagnosed with
Moyamoya disease in late 2015. After undergoing two brain surgeries, she briefly lost language and comprehension skills. Once these were regained to a degree, Lee eventually began work on her 2017 album Lune Rouge, despite not being able to fully understand music while recovering. She has noted that this album was her most personal piece of work due to the difficulties she experienced prior to making it.[33]