‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Songwriter on Crafting the Movie’s Breakout Hit

The biggest earworm from KPop Demon Hunters, “Golden,” has helped propel the hit Netflix and Sony animated feature to success atop both the streaming and music charts. And now we know a bit more about the lore behind the Huntr/x track.

Songwriter and singing voice of Rumi, one of the film’s lead demon hunters, EJAE talked about the film’s breakout song with Variety.

“One of the biggest assets I brought to the movie, or when writing the songs, was being bilingual,” she shared about bringing cultural authenticity to the film’s music to help reflect the filmmaker’s vision. “It was important for our co-director, Maggie Kang, to have Korean in the lyrics, and I just love that it’s not just the verses; it was in the actual song too.”

EJAE elaborated that the mandate from the filmmakers to the music team came down to having the word “gold” in the leading Huntr/x track. “It needed to have the word gold in it and the feeling of what Rumi was going through.”

It also needed to introduce the struggles of Rumi’s bandmates that they faced as a team: “It needed a pep talk and the idea that we can do this together.”

As the band’s lead figure, Rumi was someone EJAE related to when she was coming up as a K-Pop trainee. “She’s incredibly hardworking and has that leadership. She puts her best foot forward, but she tries to hide her imperfections and flaws.”

Her had work followed her to the most random of places for inspiration: “I actually wrote the melody on my way to the dentist.”

KPop Demon Hunters is now streaming on Netflix.

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