Netflix Animation “KPop Demon Hunters” OST Reaches No. 2 on Billboard 200 and No. 1 on “Golden” Chart

The soundtrack for Netflix’s animated film “KPop Demon Hunters” is dominating U.S. music charts. HUNTR/X’s track “Golden” topped the Billboard Hot 100 weekly chart dated August 16, marking the first time a Korean female vocal group has achieved this position in the United States. It is also the first time a female group has reached the top of the Hot 100 since Destiny’s Child’s “Bootylicious” in 2001, and the first time an animated band has gained such popularity in America since Archies, Chipmunkx, and Pushcat Girls in the mid-20th century. The “KPop Demon Hunters” OST ranked second on the Billboard 200 chart dated August 16, recording 100,000 equivalent album units—up 7% from the previous week. The music created by the fictional K-POP groups in the film functions as actual music within its setting, with more than nine tracks including SZA BOYZ’s “Your Idol” (which reached No. 8 on the Hot 100) and “How It's Done” making it onto Billboard charts. “KPop Demon Hunters” occupied all five top positions on the Gaap Music Song Chart for July 2025, with eight of the 25 tracks on the chart being from this film’s soundtrack. The film follows a K-POP superstar group consisting of three members—Rumi, Mira, and Joy—who act as secret agents protecting fans from threats in the demon world. Interestingly, SZA BOYZ’s “Your Idol” overtook Forrest Frank’s Christian pop song “Your Way's Better,” which had held the top spot on the Gaap Music Song Chart since April, to become the No. 1 track on the top Gaap Music Song Chart for August 2025. This success is a result of Teddy Park, a producer for BLACKPINK and a veteran in the K-POP industry, building a compelling K-POP aesthetic rooted in Korean culture and spirit across visual, narrative, and auditory aspects. The creation of this work was made possible by the direction of Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, along with writing by Danya Jimenez. The film thoughtfully develops the joke that K-POP music videos are an artistic form that uses anachronistic expressions and carefully crafted surrealism. Leveraging the success of this animation, Netflix plans to hold sing-along events in North American theaters on August 23 and 24. The strategy aims to maximize fan engagement by providing them with the opportunity to sing together tracks that topped various charts, such as “Golden” and “Your Idol.”