Towa Tei (鄭 東和, Tei Tōwa; born September 7, 1964) is a Japanese artist, record producer, and DJ. Born in Yokohama, Japan, Towa was a member of Deee-Lite, from the US label Elektra Records in 1990, notable for their international hit single, "Groove Is In the Heart".
Biography
Towa Tei (鄭 東和, Tei Tōwa; born September 7, 1964) is a Japanese artist, record producer, and DJ. Born in Yokohama, Japan, Towa was a member of Deee-Lite, from the US label Elektra Records in 1990, notable for their international hit single, "Groove Is In the Heart". He made his solo debut with the album Future Listening! in 1994. He has since relocated from New York to rural Nagano Prefecture in Japan. Towa's second studio album, Sound Museum (1997), became his highest charting effort at number 17 on the Oricon charts. Its single, "GBI (German Bold Italic)" featuring Kylie Minogue and Haruomi Hosono, reached number 50 and 63 in Australia and the United Kingdom, respectively. He saw continued success with 1999's Last Century Modern as its single, "Let Me Know" featuring Chara, peaked at number 34 in Japan, his highest entry. Towa has collaborated with Ryuichi Sakamoto, Yukihiro Takahashi, Akiko Yano, Ringo Sheena, and Arto Lindsay, among others. His concept party, "Hotel H", started in 2009 as a social spot for music industry people in Tokyo.
Scores
Sources & provenance
- https://musicbrainz.org/artist/440cb8ef-cee3-4711-8408-b1bd6e93f390
- https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1193049
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towa_Tei
| Field | Value | Source | Verified | Conf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| origin_country | JP | MusicBrainz | June 10, 2026 | 95 |
| genres | electronic, art pop, big beat, drum and bass, electronic dance music, electronica | MusicBrainz | June 10, 2026 | 80 |
| origin_city | Japan | MusicBrainz | June 10, 2026 | 75 |
| musicbrainz | https://musicbrainz.org/artist/440cb8ef-cee3-4711-8408-b1bd6e93f390 | MusicBrainz | June 10, 2026 | 99 |
| discogs | https://www.discogs.com/artist/10234 | Wikidata | June 10, 2026 | 90 |
| spotify | https://open.spotify.com/artist/5FLbE1s9bnHwJhmngtVXpD | Wikidata | June 10, 2026 | 90 |
| website | https://www.towatei.com | Wikidata | June 10, 2026 | 90 |
| resident_advisor | https://ra.co/dj/towatei | MusicBrainz | June 10, 2026 | 88 |
| apple_music | https://music.apple.com/jp/artist/1853006 | MusicBrainz | June 10, 2026 | 88 |
| https://www.instagram.com/towatei/ | Wikidata | June 10, 2026 | 90 | |
| soundcloud | https://soundcloud.com/towa-tei | Wikidata | June 10, 2026 | 90 |
| wikidata | https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1193049 | Wikidata | June 10, 2026 | 95 |
| youtube | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPyb2iCNdPxyxbpFm9iXHqw | Wikidata | June 10, 2026 | 90 |
| wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towa_Tei | Wikipedia | June 10, 2026 | 85 |
| bio_short | Towa Tei (鄭 東和, Tei Tōwa; born September 7, 1964) is a Japanese artist, record producer, and DJ. Born in Yokohama, Japan, Towa was a member of Deee-Lite, from the US label Elektra Records in 1990, notable for their international hit single, "Groove Is In the Heart". | Wikipedia | June 10, 2026 | 80 |
| bio_long | Towa Tei (鄭 東和, Tei Tōwa; born September 7, 1964) is a Japanese artist, record producer, and DJ. Born in Yokohama, Japan, Towa was a member of Deee-Lite, from the US label Elektra Records in 1990, notable for their international hit single, "Groove Is In the Heart". He made his solo debut with the album Future Listening! in 1994. He has since relocated from New York to rural Nagano Prefecture in Japan. Towa's second studio album, Sound Museum (1997), became his highest charting effort at number 17 on the Oricon charts. Its single, "GBI (German Bold Italic)" featuring Kylie Minogue and Haruomi Hosono, reached number 50 and 63 in Australia and the United Kingdom, respectively. He saw continued success with 1999's Last Century Modern as its single, "Let Me Know" featuring Chara, peaked at number 34 in Japan, his highest entry. Towa has collaborated with Ryuichi Sakamoto, Yukihiro Takahashi, Akiko Yano, Ringo Sheena, and Arto Lindsay, among others. His concept party, "Hotel H", started in 2009 as a social spot for music industry people in Tokyo. | Wikipedia | June 10, 2026 | 80 |
| gender | male | Wikidata | June 10, 2026 | 94 |
How to cite this page
House Music Intelligence Database. "TOWA TEI — House Music Artist Profile." Published by World Famous House Crew. Last verified June 10, 2026. URL: https://database.worldfamoushousecrew.org/artist/towa-tei