Peggy Gou

Born in South Korea, Peggy Gou built her career in Berlin as a DJ, producer, and songwriter. International recognition arrived during the 2010s through high-energy performances that glided across techno, house, and electro. A 2019 entry in the DJ-Kicks series captured her wide-ranging selections. Standout productions such as the widely praised 2018 single “It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)” and 2021’s “I Go” deliver bright, exuberant grooves that evoke classic deep house and post-disco while avoiding retro imitation. Shifting toward broader appeal, she issued the dance-pop track “(It Goes Like) Nanana” and the Lenny Kravitz duet “I Believe in Love Again” in 2023; both tracks appeared on her first album, I Hear You, released in 2024.

Although she seemed to emerge abruptly in 2016 with four separate 12-inch EPs of luminous, softly blurred house music, Gou had already spent years producing and performing. She acquired beatmatching skills in Korea in 2009 and revived the practice while enrolled at the London College of Fashion. After steadily increasing her live bookings and relocating to Berlin, she broke through in 2016 with the Art of War EPs on Radio Slave’s Rekids label, “Day Without Yesterday” on Phonica White, and Seek for Maktoop on Technicolour. Dozens of international dates followed, including bills shared with Moodymann, the Blessed Madonna, Jackmaster, and others.

An even more demanding 2017 brought her first American tour and a month-long BBC Radio 1 residency before she returned to the studio. Ninja Tune released the Once EP in 2018, highlighted by “It Makes You Forget (Itgehane),” whose infectious hook featured Gou’s Korean-language vocals. Phonica White followed with “Travelling Without Arriving.” In 2019 she launched her own Gudu Records imprint with the two-track Moment EP and supplied her inaugural mix CD for !K7’s DJ-Kicks series. Maurice Fulton’s Earth EP on Gudu included her contribution to the lead track “Jigoo” in 2020. The subsequent year saw the release of the downtempo “Nabi,” featuring OHHYUK, and the electro-disco cut “I Go.” Remixes of the latter by Soulwax, DJ Koze, and Fulton appeared in 2022, the same year Gou reworked Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.”

Mainstream recognition came in 2023 when the XL-issued single “(It Goes Like) Nanana,” colored by Euro-dance textures, spread virally and climbed to the top of club and pop charts worldwide. She then paired with Lenny Kravitz on “I Believe in Love Again.” Her debut full-length, I Hear You, arrived in 2024 and collected both singles along with the trance-inflected, large-scale anthem “1+1=11.”