Chris Daly is Hercules! Hercules! when writing up blog posts
Desiderium, LA beatsmith TOKiMONSTA’s third EP, finds the Korean American treading familiar ground, sometimes to great effect. Her first album on her newly launched Young Art label contains a track or two that ranks with her best, and a few more that do her proud. Considering it’s only seven tracks long, that’s a pretty strong batting average.
At her finest, the girl her mama named Jennifer Lee creates melodic, saturated beats, completely and perfectly shaded in–this lady knows how to fill a page, utilizing multiple synthetic and altered organic sounds to flesh out every space. TOKi is not one who expresses herself through the silent moments. Aptly named opener, “The Beginning,” is the perfect example. Starting with orchestral flair, you’ve got keys, horns, drums, bleeps, blips and probably the sounds of a kitchen sink in there somewhere, too. At no time, however, is the sound messy or overcomplicated. Lee is bursting at the seams and can’t help but to share this powerfully explosive sound with the world around her. When in this mode, she can do no wrong. “Dusty Stars” is another prime example, a mixture of skittering percussion and distorted vocals (that sample is from Aaliyah’s “Miss You,” in case you were curious). Lee’s instrumental beats are filled to the brim with color and verve, and if her music doesn’t get your ass shaking, well, you might want to see what’s wrong with your posterior.
The vocal tracks are a bit more hit or miss. Clearly, Lee is as interested in producing club hits as she is bedroom bangers, evidenced by her continual return to placing vocal tracks smack in the middle of otherwise beat based albums. From Suzi Analogue to Rucyl, TOKi has achieved varying levels of success with these lyrical jawns. A couple here rank among her better work. “Drive,” featuring Arama, is a dance floor ready jam. The groove leans towards the infectuous, and Lee and Arama strike a balance, each adding to the overall track without stepping on the other’s toes. Anderson Paak adds his dulcet tones to “Realla,” a slower jam with well paced phrasing. Paak adds the perfect amount of simmering sizzle to this sultry song.
In the end, Lee’s biggest problem is her own brilliance as a pure beat producer overshadowing her wish to expand further into more expansive musical genres. It’s not easy to be the next Zero 7, a perfect amalgam of instrumental and vocal. The bitch is, if you’re one of the best break dancers in the game, people are going to be less interested in your two-step capabilities. Desiderium demonstrates TOKi’s desire to do it all, an admirable goal to say the least. Once she finds her own Sia, look out.
