COVER STORY
A Rare, ‘Golden’ Number One for K-Pop (‘Demon Hunters’)
Two years after BTS members Jimin and Jung Kook both ruled the Billboard Hot 100, K-pop returns to the summit with the animated girl group HUNTR/X from Netflix’s animated flick
Audrey Nuna, EJAE and Rei Ami attend the KPop Demon Hunters Special Screening at Netflix Tudum Theater on June 16, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix)
“Golden,” a song sung by fictional animated K-pop girl group HUNTR/X, is the Number One song in America. Billboard reported on Monday, August 11, that the English-Korean track (officially credited as “HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI”) is the biggest song in the country after earning 31.7 million official streams (up 9% from last week), 8.4 million radio airplay audience impressions (up a whopping 71%) and 7,000 downloads sold (up 35%) in the U.S. between August 1-7.
Key to the track’s success is streaming — which is an area most K-pop releases still lack compared to their mainstream contemporaries — proving ongoing streaming success week over week instead of just one hyper-powered week in debut. The Crossover friend Gary Trust writes:
“The track slays for a third week at No. 1 on Streaming Songs and rises 5-3 for a new best on Digital Song Sales. It makes history in the former metric, as it’s the Hot 100’s greatest gainer in streaming for a record-breaking sixth straight week. (It surpasses the five weekly wins in a row for Migos’ “Bad and Boujee,” featuring Lil Uzi Vert, in early 2017.)
“Golden” debuted at No. 81 on the July 5 chart and began its streak the following week. Plus, “Golden” is the first non-debuting title to clear 30 million weekly official U.S. streams since Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” in late March. (In between, two songs reached the mark in their first chart weeks: Playboi Carti’s “Evil J0rdan” and Morgan Wallen’s “What I Want,” featuring Tate McRae.)
Of course, there’s still some debate about how/if the “artists” from KPop Demon Hunters count as “K-pop.” An informal poll I did with my followers asked this question with 815 responses. Are HUNTR/X and Saja Boys considered “K-pop” even when they’re animated and created for a movie purpose? Are only the groups K-pop and the singers behind them not? Does Kevin Woo, who has worked in the K-pop industry for nine years, count as K-pop? The results were mixed:
How do you classify those who worked on the 'KPop Demon Hunters; soundtrack?
With “Golden” as a song sung in Korean and English, it marks a great moment of inclusion to see it hit Number One. It’s still a bit of an odd scenario that it was an animated K-pop girl group singing primarily in English to secure a chart-topper. What does that mean for the K-pop industry? It’s a question on my mind, more on this soon, in any case.
For those who want a quick timeline, here’s a chart history of all the songs by K-pop artists to hit Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 to date. (Those sung in Korean, partially in Korean or released with a Korean version are bolded)
2020
BTS, “Dynamite”
Jawsh 685, Jason Derulo & BTS, "Savage Love (Laxed - Siren Beat)"
BTS, "Life Goes On"
2021
BTS, “Butter”
BTS, “Permission to Dance”
Coldplay x BTS, "My Universe"
2023
Jimin, "Like Crazy"
Jung Kook, “Seven (feat. Latto)”
2025
HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI, "Golden"
FURTHER READING
The last girl group to hit Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 was also a trio: “HUNTR/X is now the only female K-pop group in the entire history of the Billboard Hot 100 to achieve this feat, and the first girl group of any genre to land at No. 1 since Destiny’s Child’s 2001 hit ‘Bootylicious.’” (TheJasmineBrand)
The Korea Economic Daily wonders ‘After KPop Demon Hunters, it’s the era of K-everything; what’s next?” noting that “Internet searches for K-cosmetics, K-travel and K-food are surging following the runaway success of the Netflix anime.”
As Vulture puts it, “Alex Warren Has Been Exorcised From No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100”
HUNTR/X and “Golden” singer EJAE has her sights set on a Grammy: “It wouldn’t just be a personal milestone, it would be a message to every Asian American girl who’s ever felt impostor syndrome in this industry...as an Asian American, specifically a Korean American woman, I don’t really see enough people who look like me in the pop and K-pop industry. That’s why winning an award for a song about hope and chasing your dreams would be incredibly serendipitous.” (The Korea Herald)
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IN THE NEWS
Stray Kids photo composite for Teen Vogue. (Credit: Teen Vogue)
—Our friend Crystal Bell linked up with Stray Kids for one of Teen Vogue’s Snapshot! interviews with an in-depth dive into the group’s mindset playing stadiums, evolving feelings on fashion and why SKZ continue to resonate in such a vast way today, with my favorite line: “One second, Bang Chan is splashing water in your face, and the next, he’s giving you a hug over the barricade. These moments are messy, unfiltered, and wildly fun — the kind of energy Stray Kids have alchemized into a signature edge that’s taken their last six albums to No. 1 on the Billboard 200.” (Read and see all the pictures on Teen Vogue)
—It’s great to see ongoing coverage for Cherry, who publicly came out as transgender, to mark one of the first openly trans women in the K-pop industry: “Cherry first gained public attention in 2016 on the reality competition Boys24, where contestants vied for spots in the show’s namesake boy band. Although she didn’t make the final lineup, she later joined the K-pop group JWiiver under the stage name Ryujei. JWiiver disbanded in January 2024 after releasing a mini album in 2022.” (LGBTQ Nation)
—KATSEYE is featured in HitsDailyDouble’s “New & Developing Flashcards: Q3” feature as the first potential breakout artist for this quarter. “Global girl group KATSEYE — Daniela from Atlanta, (Cuban Venezuelan American), Lara from N.Y. (Indian), Manon from Zurich (Ghanaian Italian), Megan from Hawaii (Chinese American), Sophia from the Philippines and Yoonchae from South Korea — expand their creative vision on BEAUTIFUL CHAOS. The project offers the clearest picture yet of who they are and the force they’re becoming. Looking forward, they aim to define success not through stats or sales but by their impact. “We want KATSEYE to be timeless and to have lasting influence,” the group shares. “Not just for now — we want forever.”
HDD includes the following highlights:
LIVE: Headline tour sold out immediately; due to high demand, additional dates added in NYC, S.F. and L.A.; 100k+ fans queued for the second NYC date as soon as it went live
INTERNET: Combined social following of 18m+; highest monthly Spotify listeners of all girl groups (23.5m+); since their debut in June 2024, followers have increased by over 1420%
PRESS: Teen Vogue (June cover), New York Times, Hollywood Reporter, W, Variety, Harper’s Bazaar, Rolling Stone, more
—INI is highlighted as one of Universal Music Group’s top sellers for Q2 in 2025 alongside Morgan Wallen, Lady Gaga and Sabrina Carpenter. The Japanese boy band was created in partnership with Korean conglomerate CJ from Produce 101 Japan 2, the local spin-off of the original K-pop competition series Produce 101. INI’s The Origin album dropped on June 25 and has sold more than 400,000 physical units, with singles “The Frame” and “The View” both selling around 700,000 copies each. (HitsDailyDouble)
—Korea Herald columnist Grace Kao shared “My experience at KCON LA 2025” calling the annual Los Angeles festival “invigorating, overwhelming and confusing.” I liked hearing from the actual festivalgoers since a reporter’s experience is not usually the universal one. Here are the quotes from Kao which are shared as reported:
“Los Angeles resident Ann Marie Uy, 48, attended all three days with her son, niece and another family friend. This is her fourth KCON. ‘Honestly, KCON is always such a disaster,’ she remarked. Still, Uy and her family love K-pop.”
“First-time attendee Susan Gervais, 50, who traveled from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, along with her daughter Kaitlyn, 21, found the lines ‘confusing and disorganized, and the lines didn’t seem to work.’ She and others were policing the lines because the security guards gave conflicting advice.”
“Kim Jeffers, 49, of Athens, Ohio, added that the ‘lines were a bit disorganized.’”
“Skylar D., 26, of Michigan, attended with two friends who thought there were line cutters and that people were disobeying rules, and said, ‘This will probably be my last KCON.’”
“Landyn Wu, 22, who traveled from New Jersey, thought the festival grounds were ‘well-organized and straightforward.’”
“Warren Dumais, 32, coming from Missouri, wished that KCON continued its focus on K-pop.”
“Ha Vo, 69 and her daughter Christine Vo, 45, both of Orange County, enjoyed the K-beauty booths.”
“I overheard others talk about the missed opportunity of not including more K-drama events.”
“While some first-time attendees found that there were too many booths, repeat attendees told me that there were fewer booths this year than in previous years. Haley Van Degrift, 39, of San Francisco, said that the booths were ‘a little too spread out, but I like it.’
“A 40-something attendee from Minnesota told me that tariffs had caused many vendors to skip KCON and that the K-beauty freebies were scant compared to previous years.”
BUSINESS INSIGHTS
CORTIS (Courtesy of BIGHIT MUSIC)
—CORTIS, the new boy band from BIGHIT MUSIC (home to BTS and Tomorrow X Together) will have U.S. label representation in Republic Records and be distributed by IMPERIAL. Following BTS’ move from Sony’s Columbia Records to Universal Music Group’s Geffen Records, nearly all of HYBE’s artists are now under Geffen — minus Republic still representing Tomorrow X Together, bringing the Avery and Monte Lipman label its second HYBE client in CORTIS. The group dropped the music video to the song “GO!” (below) over the weekend.
According to a Republic Records press release, “CORTIS will release their lead single ‘What You Want’ on August 18 at 6 PM KST. The 1st EP COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES will be available worldwide on all streaming platforms on September 8 at 6 PM KST.”
CORTIS also did their first-ever interview on Rolling Stone with our friend Kristine Kwak which includes a lot of get-to-know-you details. The story is here (but, heads up, behind a paywall): Meet CORTIS, the Coolest K-Pop Debut of the Year
—MODHAUS, the label behind the forthcoming 24-member boy band idntt, shared the group has “plans to launch large-scale promotions in partnership with a major global distributor.” Currently, MODHAUS’ girl group ARTMS is distributed by Sony’s indie arm The Orchard. (Forbes)
The first seven members of idntt officially debuted today, August 11, through their <unevermet> EP and three singles. At a media showcase ahead of the release, member Kim Ju-ho told press, “Our goal is to make it onto the Billboard charts.”
With the right global teams in place, I think they certainly have a shot, especially given the caliber of music and more easily digestible separate units. My favorite cut is the experimental, addictive pop march “You Never Met.”
UPCOMING RELEASES
—Monday, August 11
Jeon Somi’s Confused & Chaotic EP led by the single “CLOSER” (above) (TheBlackLabel)
CORTIS’ first music release with the music video for “GO!”
—Tuesday, August 12
Jisoo of BLACKPINK’s music video for Amortage B-side “Your Love”
AMPERS&ONE’s 3rd Mini Album ‘LOUD & PROUD’ (FNC Entertainment)
—Wednesday, August 13
AtHeart’s 1st EP ‘Plot Twist’ (Titan Contents/Republic Records)
—Friday, August 15
G-Dragon’s die-cut mirrorboard vinyl version of latest album Ubermensch
Mark Tuan’s new single “hold still” (Transparent Arts/Dreamers N Achievers)
—Monday, August 18
VINCE’s “CHA CHA CHA (featuring G-Dragon)” single (TheBlackLabel)
CORTIS release their official debut single “What You Want” (HYBE/BigHit Music/Republic Records)
—Thursday, August 21
Pabllo Vittar & NMIXX’s collaboration single “MEXE” (The Orchard)
—Friday, August 22
Stray Kids’ latest full-length album KARMA (JYP Entertainment/Republic Records)
The vinyl version of Jennie’s Ruby (Odd Atelier/Columbia Records)
BITS AND BOPS
CHAEYOUNG, LIL FANTASY vol.1 (JYP Entertainment)
—Riding high with the success of “TAKEDOWN” from the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack, TWICE member Chaeyoung is preparing her first solo album LIL FANTASY vol.1 for release on September 12 via JYP Entertainment and Republic Records. Peep the online cover above.
—August 11 birthday boy Changbin of Stray Kids gifted a charity donation as part of his big day: “Stray Kids’ Changbin donated 100 million won (almost $72,000) to the Samsung Medical Center in central Seoul for the treatment costs of financially disadvantaged pedriatic patients…the 100 million won will be used toward supporting surgery, treatment and mental health care for pedriatic patients with economic hardships, according to JYP Entertainment.” (Korea JooAng Daily)
—Jake of ENHYPEN teased the group’s forthcoming music at the Chicago date of their Walk the Line World Tour:
—“Can fans ever keep their distance from K-pop stars at airports?”A very interesting read from the Korea JooAng Daily that explores the aggressive phenomenon in Korea that is K-pop fans following their favorite artists at Gimpo and Incheon International Airports. A striking passage:
“SM Entertainment’s rookie girl group Hearts2Hearts was also embroiled in a controversy back in March, when a traveler, unable to pass through the terminal due to the crowd, shouted in frustration, “We need to depart as well!” with profanity, fueling online debate over the disruption caused by celebrities’ airport appearances. Roughly three months later, the girl group once again found itself in hot water, this time due to allegedly excessive action by security staff as a female fan claimed that a bodyguard had assaulted her. SM Entertainment countered that she was an obsessive fan, or a so-called sasaeng, which the fan denied.”
—KPop Demon Hunters director Maggie Kang attended ATEEZ’s concert at BMO Standium in Los Angeles (@yazzss)
—And we’ll leave you with this shot from ATEEZ member Seonghwa’s Instagram Story that a Twitter account captured and shared:
