Yousuke Yukimatsu (¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U)

About

Yousuke Yukimatsu, who performs under the stylised alias ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U, is a Japanese DJ and producer whose path into music full time came through an unexpected crisis: a malignant brain tumor diagnosis in 2016 pushed him to leave his construction job and commit entirely to DJing. His sets are slow burning and deeply immersive, drawing on experimental electronics, acid house, and the work of relatively obscure Japanese artists most listeners will never have heard anywhere else. A turning point came when techno artist DJ Nobu caught one of his Osaka sets in 2014 and immediately invited him to play the Future Terror party in Tokyo, opening up the wider club circuit. He built his own platform through the Zone Unknown party series in Osaka and Kobe, bringing through artists like Arca, who performed live vocals at one of his events. His 2020 mix album Midnight is Comin', released on Singapore label Midnight Shift, earned serious praise from Pitchfork's Philip Sherburne, who called it one of the most immersive DJ mixes in recent memory. Then in early 2025 his Boiler Room set in Tokyo exploded online, pulling over twelve million views and introducing him to a genuinely global audience. He performs topless, which is very much part of the vibe.