TOKiMONSTA Talks Representation, Asian Hall of Fame (Exclusive)
She maintains, "I'm just an artist trying to be an artist."
As a DJ, Tokimonsta boasts an impressive list of remixes and collaborations. The Korean-American producer (real name Jennifer Lee) has worked with artists such as Anderson.Paak, Earthgang, Isaiah Rashad, Selah Sue, and ZHU. Additionally, she has done several official remixes, a few being Beck, Duran Duran, Olafur Arnalds, Disclosure, Sia, the Netflix show Squid Game, and Odesza.
The Grammy-nominated artist can now add Asian Hall of Fame Inductee to her ever-growing list of accomplishments. The 19th Asian Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, held on Oct. 21, 2023, is a ceremony intended to honor, celebrate, and promote outstanding Asian and Indigenous figures who have made significant contributions to society, all while advancing the charity's humanitarian activities which have made a meaningful impact on the community.
This event provided a platform to recognize and reward the outstanding achievements of individuals from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities while fostering an atmosphere of respect and unity among the attendees of different cultures from around the world. Ahead of her attendance at the event, PopCulture asked Lee how it felt to receive such recognition, the importance of Asian representation, and its improvement in recent years.
When asked about her induction, she said, "It feels pretty incredible anytime an accolade or, you know, something like this comes up. "I'm completely blown away that anyone, anyone sees any significance in the things that I do, as I'm just an artist trying to be an artist." Lee mentioned that platforms, such as the Asian Hall of Fame, play an essential role in how Asian Americans are viewed in the media.
"I mean, I think a lot of things go hand in hand, right, but in an ideal society, everyone is the same, and we don't have to point out whether or not someone is being discriminated against, or we just see excellence in all people, right?" she said. "In the most ideal situation. But, it is important for us to highlight the injustices and inequalities in our culture in America as Asian Americans, but it's also important for us to combat that by highlighting the amazing and progressive societal changing things that we are doing just so that we can kind of balance out the ways in which things are not okay. With heightened visibility on both sides, hopefully, we'll gain further justice and equality for this group of people in this country."
Asian culture is seeing a period of renewed visibility, with beauty, music, and media from the diaspora becoming more popular with the West and more notable English-language projects featuring Asians. As far as how that heightened interest has affected her, "I don't think I could have experienced any more ignorance than I have, I think, as an Asian American in America," Lee remarked.
"Actually, I think that with the heightened... interest or awareness of the Asian American community in this country, things have actually, I don't want to say, I don't know if getting better is the right word, but I do actually think things are improving," the DJ continued. "You're seeing more Asian Americans being highlighted in American media."
She added, "You're seeing more stories being written. You're seeing more opportunities opening up for People like myself, and I've been in this industry for quite a long time now. And as an Asian American female in a male-dominated industry, which is electronic music, where everyone is usually a cis-gendered white male, like 98 percent or something, it's the numbers extremely high. I've seen and witnessed how things have evolved. And I honestly think right now has been the best moment, and it's continuously getting better."
As for her future plans, Tokimonsta said she is working on new music. "I'm being a little secretive about it at the moment. But it's coming soon and it's been a while since I've dropped a lot of new music, but I'm excited for everyone to hear it."
Considering any singers, producers, or songwriters she hasn't worked with that she's interested in collaborating with in any future projects, "I always say the same to people every time. It's Bjork and Missy Elliott. And it'll never change because one day they're going to see this and they're going to be like, why is my name popping up so many times during this girl's interview? And then that'll be the moment."