IDOL Signs Grammy-Nominated Producer TOKiMONSTA’s Young Art Records
New Cakes Da Killa single, ‘Cakewalk’ released
IDOL to provide global distribution, label services and marketing
Alongside TOKiMONSTA, Young Art Records’ roster includes Rochelle Jordan, Cakes Da Killa and more
IDOL, the independent digital distributor, has agreed a global distribution and label services deal with Young Art Records, the LA-based label belonging to US producer and DJ TOKiMONSTA.
The partnership will see IDOL handle global distribution and marketing for Young Art Records’ catalogue and frontline releases, including tomorrow’s new single ‘Cakewalk’ from fast-rising US rapper Cakes Da Killa – a key figure in New York’s growing LGBTQ+ rap community.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2024, Young Art Records’ roster also includes Canadian R&B musician Rochelle Jordan, and instrumentalist and songwriter duo Daktyl & Benni Ola. The new deal with IDOL also covers last week’s first-ever digital release of ‘Time To’ and ‘Conversion Theory’ – the 2012 singles from TOKiMONSTA and Suzi Analogue’s collaborative project, Analogue Monsta.
TOKiMONSTA is known for her blend of hip hop & electronic, with her remix of Sia’s ‘Manchild’ earning her DJ Mag’s Best of North America 2023 award for ‘Best Remix’. Her third studio album, Lune Rouge, released via Young Art, was nominated for ‘Best Dance/Electronic Album’ at the 2019 Grammy Awards, making her the first Asian American woman to be nominated in the category. Her career has also seen collaborations with the likes of Anderson .Paak, Channel Tres and EARTHGANG.
The agreement with Young Art is the next phase in IDOL’s growing North American presence, with the deal extending its repertoire of partnerships with entrepreneurial artists and their management teams. This year’s landmark US signings include rapper Erick the Architect, with IDOL servicing recent releases ‘Ambrosia’, featuring Channel Tres, and ‘Parkour’, produced by James Blake.
TOKiMONSTA said: “Young Art Records started as a way of sharing exciting music from incredibly special musicians that I truly believe in. Being an artist-run label, Young Art focuses on highlighting and lifting up musicians so they can do what they do best — make amazing music. Knowing that IDOL trusts us and understands the importance of each musician magnifies this amazing partnership. I’m looking forward to the added infrastructure and support behind each of our artists and future endeavours.”
Lewis Kunstler, co-founder at Young Art Records, commented: “As Young Art Records celebrates its 10th anniversary, we are pleased to announce our partnership with IDOL. This collaboration will empower our team, expand our reach, and enhance our presence on a global scale. We look forward to this new chapter as well as the opportunities it will bring to share our passion for music with an even wider audience.”
Thomas Sharp Maxwell, US General Manager at IDOL, added: “We’ve been fans of Young Art as well as TOKiMONSTA’s own projects for several years, and as IDOL continues to develop in North America, this partnership serves as an important benchmark for the company’s global ambition. We’re proud to welcome such a forward-thinking label that shares a similar ethos to ours being home to such a diverse roster of artists. The Young Art team comes with a reputation that is beyond reproach and we’re excited to help further develop the culture they’ve fostered while executing on the label’s vision for the future.”
About IDOL
IDOL is a digital distributor that provides world-leading service to some of the most prestigious names in independent music. Its diverse roster, built around the highest standards of artistic curation, includes, Erased Tapes, Fire Records, Glitterbeat, Gondwana, Kitsuné, AIM Awards 2022 winners Local Action, Soundway, SRD, Ubisoft, Acrophase, B3SCI and Exceleration, whilst also working with artists like Four Tet, Erick the Architect, Nils Frahm, Daphni, La Femme, L’Impératrice, Yemi Alade, Afro B and Lomepal.
IDOL was founded in 2006 by Pascal Bittard as one of the first fully digital aggregators, with “independence is a strength” as its core belief. Its offering combines unbeatable label management and marketing services with a focus on long-term catalogue development – a combination that consistently achieves better results for its clients.
IDOL operates its own digital distribution platform, Labelcamp, which offers state-of-the-art supply chain management tools and analytics dashboards to its distributed partners. Labelcamp is also available as a SaaS product for third-party labels and distributors, and is used by the likes of [PIAS], Because, Concord and Ditto.
The IDOL’s team and operations are spread across Paris, London, Berlin, New York, LA, Nashville and Johannesburg.
About Young Art Records
Approaching its 10-year anniversary, the Los Angeles based label Young Art Records was launched by recording artist TOKiMONSTA in 2014. It debuted with the release of her mini-album Desiderium, which showcases features from Anderson .Paak and Joyce Wrice. Additional collaborations from her Young Art releases include Ambré, EARTHGANG, Ryuichi Sakamoto, VanJess, The Drums, Isaiah Rashad, Yuna and Selah Sue.
TOKiMONSTA’s goal was to create a platform that would help nurture the creative output of talented artists, using her own releases to solidify the foundation of the label. Young Art has gone on to release the Juno-nominated album Play with the Changes by Canadian R&B icon Rochelle Jordan, Svengali by Cakes da Killa (rated 4/5 stars by The Guardian), and Grammy-nominated ‘Best Electronic’ album Lune Rouge by TOKiMONSTA.
The label’s roster boasts Montreal producer CRi, Keys N Krates, Daktyl, Biicla, Rush Davis, Kingdom, Gavin Turek, Benni Ola, bad tuner and more. Since the label’s inception, TOKiMONSTA has released two full-length albums, numerous singles and remixes. Her first original single of 2023, ‘Eats The Tale’ with Rochelle Jordan, was released August 10th, 2023 on Young Art Records.