Who Is Peggy Gou? From Berghain to “Nanana” and Beyond

Peggy Gou might be the most recognizable DJ on the planet right now who isn't wearing a helmet or a horse mask — so here's the actual story behind the name on all those festival posters.

Born Kim Min-ji in Incheon, South Korea in 1991, she was sent to London at 14 to learn English, later studied at London College of Fashion, and worked as a London correspondent for Harper's Bazaar Korea. Piano lessons from age eight gave her the musical foundation; London's club scene gave her the direction. She learned to DJ in 2009, and after moving to Berlin in 2016 she set herself a very specific goal — becoming the first Korean woman to play Berghain — and hit it within about a year.

The production career started on Radio Slave's Rekids label in 2016, but 2018's “It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)” was the real arrival: a hypnotic house cut sung partly in Korean that won Best Track at the AIM Awards and landed on the FIFA 19 soundtrack. She launched her fashion label KIRIN in early 2019 — with encouragement from the late Virgil Abloh — and founded her own imprint, Gudu Records, the same year. “Starry Night” kept the momentum rolling.

Then came the monster. “(It Goes Like) Nanana,” released on XL in June 2023, went viral off festival crowd footage and turned into a generational crossover: No. 1 in a stack of countries, a UK top-ten hit, platinum certifications on four continents. Eight years into her career, she placed third in BBC Radio 1's Sound of 2024 — a poll usually reserved for newcomers. “Even though I've been releasing music since 2015, last year really hit differently,” she told the BBC.

Her debut album I Hear You followed in June 2024, hitting No. 1 on the UK Dance Albums chart with cover art by artist Olafur Eliasson and a Lenny Kravitz collab in the tracklist. Since then: a Pacha Ibiza residency, a No. 12 finish in DJ Mag's Top 100, and this summer's '90s-house team-up with Ayra Starr, “Wo, man,” plus her own Midnight Lobster Club takeover at Ibiza's [UNVRS]. She's earned her spot on our best female artists dominating 2026 list several times over.

What keeps her interesting is the ambition. “From outside, the world, they can think that I'm already successful,” she told The Harvard Crimson. “But my idea of success is that I'm not done yet.” A DJ, label boss, fashion designer and one-woman crossover machine who still talks like she's climbing — that's Peggy Gou, and no, there's no second album announced yet. When there is, you'll read about it here.