Peggy Gou, 33, boasts a number of accolades that underline her prominence in music. She came third on a list of the most promising musicians of the year by BBC Radio, she was the first Korean artist to be nominated in the international song category at the 2024 Brit Awards and she ranked ninth in a list of the top 100 DJs of 2023 by British magazine DJ Mag. Ahead of the album’s release, Gou – whose real name is Kim Min-ji – returned to her homeland for a brief visit.
“I love coming to Korea because I have people who are like tranquillisers to me, including my family and friends,” she said in a recent phone interview. “When I’m in Korea, I receive skincare treatments and get introduced to new creators and brands in the music and fashion industries. I feel my brain can rest, and I always get inspired no matter who I meet or what I do.
” Gou’s first full-length album arrives more than a decade after her debut as a DJ and eight years since the release of her original track, “Hungboo”. “My perfectionist tendencies delayed the release by about two years. While I’m a musician, I started as a DJ, so I didn’t initially think an album was essential,” she said.
“At first, I thought having a few of my own tracks to play during DJ sets would be enough. But seeing people sing along to my songs made me realise I wanted to pursue a deeper path as a musician, which led me to start working on this album in 2018.” Gou’s Korean identity features heavily in .
�.
