# DJ Tukutz

Kim Jeong-sik (Korean: 김정식; born 19 November 1981), more commonly known by the stage name DJ Tukutz (DJ 투컷), is a South Korean DJ, record producer and composer. He is best known as a member of the hip hop group Epik High.

## Early life

DJ Tukutz had no inclination towards the music or entertainment industry until Deux sparked his interest in breakdancing. His involvement in the breakdancing scene in Itaewon led to him being exposed to Grand Mixer DXT and the Incredible Bongo Band. He later stated that he had been scouted by SM Entertainment after winning a local dance competition but his mother intentionally blocked their calls as she did not believe her son had any prospects in the entertainment industry. After finishing high school and subsequently dropping out of law school, he worked various part-time jobs in order to purchase his first turntables and was a "bedroom DJ" for several years.

## Career
### Early career

DJ Tukutz was mostly DJing at nightclubs and warehouse parties and had been mentored by DJ Wreckx [ko], a hip hop DJ now widely recognized in the industry as a pioneer in introducing turntables and scratching to the local club scene. He was eventually introduced to Tablo and Mithra Jin as he occasionally played for CB Mass, a hip hop trio who were members of the prominent underground crew Movement [ko]. His first performance with Tablo and Mithra Jin as Epik High was in 2002 and he initially only joined them as a guest DJ. However, CB Mass disbanded in early 2003 due to member Curbin allegedly embezzling money from his own members Gaeko and Choiza and other Movement members and defrauding Tablo, Mithra Jin and DJ Tukutz of their funds to produce their debut album.

### Epik High

Epik High joined Woollim Entertainment and debuted in October 2003 with the album Map of the Human Soul. Promotions for their sixth studio album, released in September 2009, were cut short as DJ Tukutz's enlistment date was unexpectedly pushed forward to October. Tablo and Mithra Jin agreed to continue promoting as a duo, with guest DJs joining their live performances. They released Epilogue in March 2010 and intentionally did not include scratching in the instrumental tracks to symbolize DJ Tukutz's absence. During the hiatus following Mithra Jin's enlistment, DJ Tukutz largely stayed out of the public eye, only featuring in Tablo's solo album Fever's End and DJing at hip hop clubs on special occasions.
In July 2012, after Mithra Jin's own discharge from the army, both of them followed Tablo in signing exclusive contracts with YG Entertainment. The trio opted not to renew when their contracts expired in October 2018. They founded their own agency, Ours Co, and manage both group and individual activities themselves.
Unlike Tablo and Mithra Jin, DJ Tukutz has no rap lines and takes on the role of the main producer overseeing the musical direction of album releases and post-production. The vast majority of his credits in Epik High releases are as a composer or arranger. Initially, he was only meant to serve as the group's DJ during live performances and began taking on the role of both producer and audio engineer from the second album onwards as a "cost-saving measure".

## Personal life

DJ Tukutz married his non-celebrity girlfriend on October 13, 2009. The couple have two children, a son (born in December 2012) and a daughter (born in March 2016).
On October 15, 2009, DJ Tukutz enlisted for mandatory military service at the 306th Replacement Battalion in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province. He was assigned to a reconnaissance unit in the 17th Infantry Division and discharged in August 2011.

## Discography
### As featured artist

| Title | Year | Peak positions | Sales | Album |
| Title | Year | KOR | Sales | Album |
| "Superstar (behind The Scene)" (Dynamic Duo feat. Tiger JK, Sean2Slow, DJ Tukutz) | 2004 | — | — | Taxi Driver |
| "Scream" (Kim Dong-wan feat. D. Bace and DJ Tukutz) | 2007 | — | — | Kim Dong Wan Is |
| "Hip Hop Style" (힙합 스타일) (Deegie [ko] feat. DJ Tukutz, Youngji and Sweet.J Ensemble) | 2008 | — | — | Insane Deegie 2 |
| "The Source" (출처) (Tablo feat. scratch By DJ Tukutz) | 2011 | 54 | KOR: 160,907+ | Fever's End: Part 2 |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. |||||

## Credits

DJ Tukutz has 122 songwriting credits registered with the Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA). All credits are adapted from KOMCA, unless stated otherwise.

### Other artists

| Year | Artist(s) | Song | Album | Lyrics | Lyrics | Music | Music | Arrangement | Arrangement | Notes |
| Year | Artist(s) | Song | Album | Credited | With | Credited | With | Credited | With | Notes |
| 2003 | CB Mass | "Intro" | Massappeal | — | — | Yes | J-Win | Yes | J-Win | Instrumental |
| 2006 | Lim Jeong-hee | "Never Know" (feat. Tablo) | Thanks | No | — | Yes | Tablo | Yes | — | |
| 2006 | I.F [ko] | "N.I.C.E (Nothing Is Cool Enough)" | More Than Music | Yes | — | Yes | — | No | — | |
| 2015 | Moon Sua | "Who Am I" (feat. Suhyun of Akdong Musician) | Unpretty Rapstar 2 — FINAL X SEMI FINAL Part.2 | No | — | Yes | Tablo | Yes | — | |
| 2016 | Lee Hi | "안봐도 비디오" (feat. Bobby of iKon) | Seoulite | No | — | Yes | Deanfluenza and Le'mon | Yes | — | Co-produced album with Tablo and Lee Hi |