TOKiMONSTA Shares Her Favorite Vinyl Records | Discogs Listening Room

First question, who's your favorite Wu-Tang member? “[Wu-Tang] are like superheroes — they all have different powers,” says producer, DJ, and Young Art Records founder TOKiMONSTA. In this episode of the Discogs Listening Room, she drops the needle on the records that shaped her journey — starting with her introduction to East Coast hip-hop through Wu-Tang Clan and how it sparked her early beat-making. From there, she dives into Sun Ra’s experimental soundscapes, the treasures she uncovered in her late father’s record collection, and the deep cuts of jazz, funk, and Korean pop that followed. These albums tell the personal story behind her sound. And as a bonus, she shares the wild tale of how a Myspace DM connected her with the legendary Ryuichi Sakamoto. Below are the records TOKiMONSTA spins — a mix of hip-hop classics, cosmic jazz, and rare gems pulled from family history. Wu-Tang Clan 'Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)': https://www.discogs.com/release/30100481-Wu-Tang-Clan-Enter-The-Wu-Tang-36-Chambers Sun Ra And His Astro Infinity Arkestra 'Strange Strings': https://www.discogs.com/release/31444271-Sun-Ra-And-His-Astro-Infinity-Arkestra-Strange-Strings-Expanded-Edition Yellow Magic Orchestra 'Solid State Survivor': https://www.discogs.com/release/8911381-Yellow-Magic-Orchestra-Solid-State-Survivor Lee Jang Hee 'Home Of The Stars': https://www.discogs.com/release/19496305-%EC%9D%B4%EC%9E%A5%ED%9D%AC-%EA%B0%95%EA%B7%BC%EC%8B%9D-%EB%B3%84%EB%93%A4%EC%9D%98-%EA%B3%A0%ED%96%A5-Home-Of-The-Stars White Noise 'An Electric Storm': https://www.discogs.com/release/386727-White-Noise-An-Electric-Storm In Soon-I 'In-Yeon': https://www.discogs.com/release/7138551-%EC%9D%B8%EC%88%9C%EC%9D%B4-%EC%9D%B8%EC%97%B0 Southside Movement 'Moving South': https://www.discogs.com/release/1458541-Southside-Movement-Moving-South TOKiMONSTA on Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/artist/1123426-TOKiMONSTA For this edition of the Discogs Listening Room, the following equipment was used: AlphaTheta Euphonia 4-Channel Rotary Mixer, Pioneer DJ PLX-1000 Turntable, and @Ortofonofficial cartridge (https://ortofon.com/products/concorde-music-blue) Hosted by Gabriel Lopez of @kexp 01:00 Who's your favorite Wu-Tang member? 03:45 A weird turn with Sun Ra's improvisational "study of ignorance" 06:28 TOKiMONSTA's love for Yellow Magic Orchestra 07:35 Getting a MySpace message from Ryuichi Sakamoto 09:15 Discovering herself through her late father's record collection 12:23 Taking inspiration from electronic music pioneer Delia Derbyshire 17:10 The backstory on In Soon-I, the Korean Queen of Soul 20:20 Discovering a Southside Movement song that Hieroglyphics sampled at home -- Unlock the ultimate record collecting experience: https://www.discogs.com/about/get-started/ SUBSCRIBE: youtube.com/discogs Check us on Social @Discogs: Follow Discogs on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/discogs Follow Discogs on X: https://twitter.com/discogs Follow Discogs on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/discogs Follow Discogs on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@discogs Follow Discogs on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/discogsofficial.bsky.social #vinyl #vinylrecords #vinylcommunity