LOS ANGELES:
From Ok-pop trainee to songwriter and now a number one singer in KPop Demon Hunters, South Korean artist EJAE poured every little thing she knew about fashionable Korean music into the Netflix NFLX.O venture.
The animated movie that has develop into a cultural phenomenon consists of the chart-topping hit “Golden,” which EJAE performs.
“I simply love how ‘Golden’ is a really hopeful track, so not simply America, however globally, everybody’s resonating with it,” the singer informed Reuters.
“It seems like we’re all like connecting collectively,” she added.
The 33-year-old was signed by South Korea’s SM Leisure when she was in her teenagers as a trainee, studying singing, dancing and performing in anticipation of launching a profession as a Ok-pop artist.
As an alternative of singing, she initially grew to become a songwriter and producer who labored with fashionable teams similar to Aespa, Twice, Crimson Velvet, Nmixx and others to seize the genuine sound of the style.
KPop Demon Hunters debuted on the streaming platform on June 20, rapidly garnering world reward from critics and audiences. The story follows a trio of demon hunters that carry out Ok-pop music to each impress followers and fight demons.
A sing-along model of KPop Demon Hunters topped the home field workplace over the weekend, in what seems to be a historic first for streaming big Netflix.
The film introduced in an estimated $18 million from U.S. and Canada field places of work, in response to IMDb’s Field Workplace Mojo, surpassing the $15.6 million for horror film Weapons.
KPop Demon Hunters facilities on Rumi, the lead singer of the group, with musical vocals offered by EJAE and a talking voice from Arden Cho. Rumi struggles together with her identification and fears that her two finest buddies, Mira, voiced by Might Hong, and Zoey, voiced by Ji-young Yoo, received’t settle for her for who she actually is.
The movie was produced by Sony Photos Animation.
Whereas the fictional Ok-pop woman group known as HUNTR/X has achieved monumental real-life success, Cho has been shocked by a number of the viewers reactions to the film’s music.
“Somebody was saying that HUNTR/X voices have been A.I. (synthetic intelligence) as a result of it is so good,” Cho stated. “It is so good that they have been like, ‘Oh, these singers have to be AI. ’‘No, we’re actual. We’re right here,’ she added.
The action-packed film can also be the highest-charting soundtrack of 2025 to this point with songs “How It is Achieved”, “What It Sounds Like” and “Free” additionally rating with “Golden” within the high 10 most streamed songs for the week ending on August 14, in response to Luminate.
To create “Golden,” which is getting Grammy Award buzz, EJAE needed to hit some excessive notes. “Every time Rumi sings, you understand, they (the administrators) actually wished her to belt, exhibit her vocals as a result of that is her position, proper?” EJAE stated.
“So, sure, I put as many excessive notes as potential. And like, I actually discovered my vary whereas singing ‘Golden,’” she added.
