"When you can't understand music, you can't make music."
In 2015, producer and DJ Jennifer Lee, known as TOKiMONSTA, was diagnosed with a rare brain disease called Moyamoya. Over the course of her recovery from successful surgery, she lost not only her ability to communicate or move, but she lost her ability to hear and understand music.
In the video below, she describes the painstaking steps she took to regain control of her mind, her body, and her music.
To hear more about her journey as an artist, and how she built up her chops to compete with the best, watch this:
Listen to the first song TOKiMONSTA created after she regained her ability to make music, “I Wish I Could”, out now on her album Lune Rouge:
Also, TOKiMONSTA explains how she built the featured single "Rouge" on her latest album, Lune Rouge:
And check out some of the gear TOKiMONSTA uses to create her signature sound:
From left to right the gear featured is the Akai APC40, Macbook Pro Laptop, Ableton Live 9, Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S49, RME UFXInterface, and the Moog Sub Phatty.