Netflix Animated Series ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Theme Song “Golden” Becomes First Female K-Pop Singer to Top Billboard Chart

“The Golden” the theme song for Netflix’s original animated series “KPop Demon Hunters” reached number one on major music charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom, setting a historic milestone in K-Pop history. It secured the top spot on the U.S. Billboard main singles chart “Hot 100,” marking the first time a female K-Pop singer or group has topped this chart. Prior to this, only BTS (with 6 songs), member Jimin (1 song), and Jung Kook (1 song) had achieved “Hot 100” number one status. Additionally, “Golden” reached number one on the UK Official Singles Chart “Top 100” on August 1, representing the first K-Pop song to claim the top position on this chart in 13 years since Psy’s “Gangnam Style.” The song is performed by the fictional K-Pop girl group HUNTR/X from the animated series, with lyrics written by Lee Jae, a former Trainee at SM Entertainment, and sung by singers Audrey Nuuna and REI AMI. All of them are Korean Americans; Lee Jae and REI AMI were born in Seoul, while Audrey Nuuna is from New Jersey. The album featuring “Golden” was released by Republic Records, a subsidiary of Universal Music. Since debuting on the “Hot 100” at position 81 earlier last month, “Golden” has shown consistent upward momentum, rising to 23rd, 6th, 4th, 2nd, and again 2nd before reaching the summit in week 7. In the most recent chart tracking period, it accumulated 31.7 million streams (a 9% increase from the previous week), 8.4 million radio points (a 71% increase), and 7,000 sales (a 35% increase). The success of “Golden” aligns with the global popularity of “KPop Demon Hunters.” Since its release on Netflix on June 20, the animated series has dominated global streaming, maintaining a top position in the film category even in week 7 after its release. “While financial interests involved U.S. capital and Japanese production companies, the music market consistently categorizes it as ‘K-Pop.’” Billboard described “Golden” as “the first ‘Hot 100’ number one song by a female singer associated with K-Pop,” while the UK Official Chart also noted it as “K-Pop’s first number one in 13 years.” This demonstrates that the music industry recognizes the song’s genre identity as K-Pop. The track includes Korean lyrics such as “In the dark path ahead,” “Forever unbreakable,” and “We who shine brightly,” and was composed by Teddy, a renowned music producer from K-Pop agency The Black Label, in collaboration with Lee Jae. Such creative composition and Korean elements are the reasons why the song is classified as K-Pop.