KPop Demon Hunters (soundtrack)

Background

For the film's music, co-directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans considered K-pop as an integral genre for selecting the musical tone.^[12][13] Kang explained that during the film's development they decided it was not "a traditional musical, where characters break into song to express their feelings", and instead the film would have "pockets of music threaded throughout the film, and that felt like an organic way to push the story forward. But as we kept developing the film, we realized, Oh, no—this is a real musical. Even though the characters aren't exactly singing their feelings, every lyric had to serve the story and reveal something about them or advance the plot".^[14] When comparing the songs of Huntrix and the Saja Boys, Appelhans explained they "wanted the Saja Boys' songs to be super catchy, but slightly hollow, like there's no real soul underneath" which contrasts with the "emotionally vulnerable and honest" Huntrix songs – "the idea was that the surface-level part of your heart might be obsessed with the boys, but the deeper part is moved by the girls".^[15]

They enlisted an array of music producers to work on "chart-worthy K-pop tracks" including Teddy Park, co-founder of The Black Label, along with Grammy-nominated and winning producers Lindgren, Stephen Kirk, and Jenna Andrews, who had worked on music for K-pop artists such as BTS, Twice, and Blackpink amongst others. Ian Eisendrath served as the executive music producer, who noted "I've always thought of K-pop as the most theatrical genre of pop, and so I was just instantly excited by the possibilities of what could happen in a narrative context with the K-pop songs [and] incorporating actual, hit-making K-pop artists. I just felt like everything was really set up to be a special musical and narrative experience."^[16] All the songs were written and recorded before being integrated into the narrative, while Eisendrath also wanted them to be standalone records as well.^[16]

Songs

The first song, "How It's Done", introduces the members of Huntrix: Rumi (Arden Cho; singing voice Ejae), Mira (May Hong; singing voice Audrey Nuna), and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo; singing voice Rei Ami) as the girl-group Huntrix. The team took inspiration from "Jet Song" from West Side Story, which introduced the Jets, and wanted a similar introduction for the fictional band. Eisendrath wanted to set up a unique sonic world for the band, and the characters have distinctive voices.^[16] The team went through several iterations on finding the beat and tempo.^[16]

The song "Golden" introduces the idea of the Golden Honmoon, where the principal characters work to protect the world from demons by sealing their universe off from the supernatural beings; Eisendrath described it as the "I Want" song in traditional music structure, as it explores the characters' purpose, while also dwells on Rumi's inner thoughts, resulting in the change of an "inspirational pop" to a bit darker genre.^[16] Appelhans explained that with "Golden" the characters' "gold costumes represent their kind of MacGuffin of a dream that they're chasing of being perfect and beyond reproach".^[17] However, at the second act's end, the ideal is visually represented as broken with the dream "literally and physically in tatters" – "the idea that we could service the way that K-pop works, and all the ingredients, but also make it part of this fantasy plot, was really fun".^[17] After the release of the film, Appelhans commented that with "Golden" as an "I Want" song they were following "the conventions of a traditional musical" while also "making it a legitimately great pop song" which "is probably why it's [in the Top 10] on the worldwide Spotify charts", noting that "a good pop song also tells a story" which is what "Golden" is doing.^[14]

"Soda Pop" is the introduction number for the Saja Boys, which was described as a "super bubblegum-y K-pop boy band song" similar to BTS' "Butter".^[16] Eisendrath said, "It's the demons who are evil, but they decide to masquerade as a K-pop boy group, and just be the most appealing, innocent, charming people that have ever been seen performing a K-pop song".^[16] The song "may sound like a sweet declaration of puppy love", however, "a deeper listen reveals the demons' true predatory nature" as the demons are there to prey on human souls.^[18] Danny Chung provided rap verses in the mid portions of the song.^[16]

"Takedown" was considered as a "warrior anthem" expressing their rage and vengeance against the Saja Boys.^[16] An end credits version of the song is performed by Jeongyeon, Jihyo and Chaeyoung of the girl group Twice, and is the centerpiece of their TikTok dance challenge.^[16]

"Free" is an emotional ballad that explores Jinu (Ahn Hyo-seop; singing voice Andrew Choi) and Rumi sharing their deepest secrets, serving as a musical picture of what they want to be in their lives.^[16]

"Your Idol" presents Gwi-Ma (Lee Byung-hun), the king of demons, as the Saja Boys team up with him, to perform a "dark, otherworldly number" in contrast to "Soda Pop".^[16] According to Ejae, who wrote the song, she was inspired by Exo's "Mama" and Christian hymns in writing the song.^[19]

"What It Sounds Like" is the final song that serves to introduce the conclusion to the final battle against Gwi-Ma and the Saja Boys; while being an "inspirational pop song", it also dwells on Rumi's journey on battling her inner demons.^[16] Kang commented that when developing the song and Rumi's story they "talked a lot about mixed heritage" as well as "queer identity, and addiction and falling back into addiction. We kind of described the "demon part of you" where someone is hiding part of themselves "from the world".^[20] The team was inspired by "Green Light" from Lorde, as both songs are about accepting hurt and learning to move on.^[20] "Hide and Seek" from Imogen Heap was also an influence on the song due to its vocoder vocals and similar theme of finding true identity.^[21] A previous iteration of the song, titled "Kaleidoscope", focused on "taking all the pieces of yourself and making it beautiful".^[20] However, they felt "earlier versions of the song didn't ring true because the narrative was wrapped up too neatly" and what remains of "Kaleidoscope" are the lyrics on "broken pieces and finding yourself within those broken pieces" in "What It Sounds Like".^[20]

The film's soundtrack includes three previous releases, featuring "Strategy" by Twice, "Love, Maybe" by MeloMance, and "Path" by Jokers.^[22][3] Also included on the soundtrack is an instrumental "Score Suite", featuring excerpts from the film's orchestral score by Marcelo Zarvos.^[23]

Release

Track listing

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[36]

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[37]

Track listing

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[38]

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[38]

Technical

• Marcelo Zarvos – composer, piano
• Reuben Cohen – mastering
• Erich Talaba – mix engineering

Critical reception

The soundtrack received widespread critical acclaim. Jason Lipshutz of Billboard explained that the Saja Boys and Huntrix could "become breakout stars of the summer" as the "chart launches look like the quiet beginning of a full-blown cultural phenomenon", noting that "all of the KPop Demon Hunters music is enjoying an uptick in streams during its second week of release".^[39] Lipshutz highlighted that "'Golden' and 'Your Idol' appear to be the standout songs so far" in terms of streaming numbers, however, "soundtrack cuts like 'What It Sounds Like' and 'Free' have also tripled up their streaming totals from their first week of release to their second, and also posted significant increases in song sale totals".^[39] Reviewing the soundtrack for the music database AllMusic, Neil Z. Yeung gave it 4 out of 5 stars and stated that singers in Huntrix and Saja Boys "do such a good job that they might as well be in K-pop groups in real life too," adding that tracks by Huntrix and Saja Boys are "top-tier pop gems, amplified even more if listeners have seen the movie".^[40] Katcy Stephan of Variety commented that Huntrix has "quickly become the third most-streamed K-Pop group in the world", noting that they were "bested only by juggernauts BTS and Stray Kids".^[18] Nick Romano of Entertainment Weekly highlighted the two fictional bands "seem to be taking over the world" which is significant because "technically" these "artists are not real".^[41] Peter Hoskins, for the BBC, commented that "its success should perhaps not be too surprising as top producers including Teddy Park, who has worked with Blackpink, and BTS collaborator Lindgren were part of the team that created the album".^[42] Erielle Sudario of Collider commented that Huntrix is not "the first fictional K-pop group to go viral", highlighting other fictional K-pop groups such as K/DA, Red Queen, and Boys Generally Asian.^[43] She opined "despite their popularity and success, one major downside of supporting a fictional K-pop group is that they tend to have a short shelf life".^[43]

Angela Garcia of SLUG Magazine commented that "the songs aren't just homages to K-pop; they are K-pop".^[44] Garcia highlighted that the soundtrack is "a love letter to K-pop", noting "obvious highlights include 'Golden' and 'Your Idol.' Full of energy and infectious melodies, at least one of these tracks is guaranteed to stick in your head–no matter how much you fight it".^[44] Sudario explained "fictional K-pop groups have become successful not only because of the genre's rise, but also because the people behind them conducted massive research before their launch" and they "feature singing voices of actual artists".^[43] Crystal Bell of Mashable attributed part of the Huntrix success to Ejae "who provides Rumi's singing voice and helped pen many of the film's original tracks" as "her involvement brings a layer of authenticity to the film's sound, blurring the line between fiction and reality".^[45] Bell also highlighted that Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, as Mira and Zoey's respective singing voices, "bring their own vocal flair to the film's genre-hopping tracks".^[45] Trent Cannon of PopVerse stated that "probably the highest praise I can give the music in KPop Demon Hunters" is "it feels like a great KPop album. From start to finish, it is filled with great songs and showcases why Korea has become a focal point for pop music in recent years".^[46] Cannon explained that the music is "believably great", highlighting "Takedown" as a "fast, aggressive song" which "leans heavily on the hip-hop influences that permeate through KPop and wouldn't feel out of place on a TWICE record itself" while "How It's Done" is a song that "would absolutely be at home on a Blackpink album" and "Soda Pop" which "feels very much like BTS" song.^[46] Bell opined that "Golden" and "Takedown" would not "feel out of place on a real idol group's comeback album, with propulsive beats, dynamic hooks, and lyrics that tap into both the emotional highs and warrior-like tenacity of being an idol".^[45] Wilson Chapman of IndieWire commented that he did not think the soundtrack was "a full collection of bangers".^[47] He opined that "How It's Done" and "Your Idol" are slightly "generic and blend together too easily", however, these songs are also "eminently believable as real K-pop songs you can stream in the real world, and the highlights – including Saja Boys bouncy intro number 'Soda Pop' and Huntr/x's big inspirational ballad 'Golden' – are spectacular".^[47]

Romano stated that "the success of the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack is a credit to how Kang and Appelhans took the musical elements quite seriously, assembling a team capable of composing songs that could rival the great K-pop hits of today".^[41] Stephan opined that it is "impossible to extricate the success of KPop Demon Hunters from its no-skip soundtrack, featuring instant hits that seamlessly combine K-Pop style with musical theater-like storytelling reminiscent of Alan Menken's best work at Disney".^[18] Jesse Hassenger of Decider compared KPop Demon Hunters to Disney musicals, noting that "an upstart cartoon musical doing this well is virtually unheard-of".^[48] While Hassenger commented that the film's K-pop songs did not rise to "'Bruno'-level masters of the movie-musical form", he praised the film for rethinking "how to use music in family-friendly feature animation" which is a quality he felt was lacking in recent Disney musicals.^[48] Hassenger also felt that the soundtrack "distinguishes" itself "from the grown-up hustle of soundtracks so concerned with maximizing their chart impact that they have almost nothing to do with the movies themselves" such as the recent soundtrack for the film F1 (2025).^[48]

Accolades

Commercial performance

In the United States, KPop Demon Hunters debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 chart with 31,000 equivalent album units and landed at number 18 on the Top Album Sales chart with 3,000 sales. The album holds the highest debut on the Billboard 200 for soundtracks released in 2025 and is the first soundtrack of 2025 to reach the top ten.^[105] The album was also the highest-charting animated film's soundtrack album on the chart since Metro Boomin's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) at number five, as well as the first Netflix soundtrack to reach number one on the Top Soundtracks in around two years.^[106] The following week, the album jumped up to number three on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming the highest-charting soundtrack of 2025.^[107] Billboard and NPR Music noted that for the Billboard Hot 100, seven songs were on the July 12-dated list with five debuting and two jumping up to the top 40.^[108][109] Additionally, six of those songs were "also on the Streaming Songs chart".^[108] In its twelfth week, the album reached number one on the Billboard 200, being the first animated film soundtrack to reach that position since Encanto in 2022.^[110]

The Korea Herald, while highlighting the soundtrack's debut on the Billboard charts, noted that the album "is making major waves on music charts worldwide" and "in South Korea, the response has been equally robust."^[111] The BBC highlighted that Huntrix and the Saja Boys–with "Golden" and "Your Idol" respectively–topped the US Spotify chart with Huntrix hitting "number two on the chart, surpassing Blackpink as the highest-charting female K-pop group", and the Saja Boys becoming "the highest charting male K-pop group in US Spotify history", surpassing BTS.^[42] Lipshutz explained that unlike animated musicals with "a standout song or two", the soundtrack for "KPop Demon Hunters is a phenomenon more reminiscent of 2021's Hot 100-blanketing Encanto soundtrack, with seven songs from the soundtrack appearing on this week's chart".^[112] Lipshutz commented that both "Golden" and "Your Idol" have been "near the top of daily U.S. and global streaming listings for days, but so have Huntrix's hammering opener 'How It's Done,' the sticky-sweet boy band song 'Soda Pop' and the pivotal ballad 'What It Sounds Like,' all of which are currently in the top 11 of Spotify's Daily Top Songs USA chart".^[112] Huntrix was "the first fictional act to reign" on the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. US when their song "Golden" rose to number one on both charts.^[113] Billboard commented that while Huntrix "outpaces its rival" the Saja Boys, the two songs by the KPop Demon Hunters boy band also hit "the top 10" of these two charts.^[113] On August 18, 2025, Billboard highlighted that the film's two fictional groups "team up to claim four of the top five on the Billboard Global 200 chart" and that only "four [other] elite albums", three by Taylor Swift and one by Drake, "have generated as many as four concurrent top five hits" on the Global 200 since the chart's debut in September 2020.^[114]

Charts

Certifications and sales