Peggy Gou
Peggy Gou has spent the last decade turning herself into one of dance music's most recognizable names, and she did it without ever losing the independent streak that got her here. Born Kim Min-ji on July 3, 1991, in Incheon, South Korea, she originally studied fashion at the London College of Fashion and worked as a fashion correspondent before fully committing to music. She taught herself to DJ starting in 2009 and moved into production by 2013, eventually settling in Berlin—the city that shaped a lot of her sound.
Her breakout moment came with 2016's “It Makes You Forget (Itgehane),” a track that took off internationally, won Best Track at the 2018 AIM Independent Music Awards, and even landed a spot on the FIFA 19 soundtrack. From there she kept building steadily rather than chasing one-off hits—EPs like Art of War and Seek for Maktoop in 2016, followed by Once in 2018 and Moment in 2019, plus a DJ-Kicks compilation that same year. It all led up to her debut studio album, I Hear You, released via XL Recordings in 2024—a genuine milestone after years of build-up.
Along the way she's linked up with some serious names, including Lenny Kravitz on “I Believe In Love Again” and, more recently, Ayra Starr on “Wo, man.” That range—moving between rock royalty and Afrobeats' next generation—says a lot about how far her reach extends beyond the techno and house scenes she came up in.
One of the most important moves of her career, though, was launching her own label, Gudu Records, back in March 2019. It's given her a platform to support emerging artists on her own terms, something that clearly matters to her given how independently she's run her career from the start. Before Gudu, she'd already put out music through respected imprints like Ninja Tune, Phonica, and Rekids.
The accolades have followed the work: Forbes named her to their 30 Under 30 Asia list in 2019, she became the first Korean DJ to ever perform at Berlin's legendary Berghain, and she's headlined festivals as massive as Coachella and Glastonbury. She's also landed on DJ Mag's Top 100 DJs list. With I Hear You out in the world and new collaborations still landing, Peggy Gou's résumé keeps expanding—and she's still doing it entirely on her own terms.
