Using the power of their voices to annihilate soul-devouring demons and protect their fans from the dangers of the underworld, Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, the members of the female group Huntr/x, star in an entertaining animated adventure in English that has successfully brought South Korean culture back into the spotlight worldwide. Their musical film The K-pop Warriors (KPop Demon Hunters) is dominating the global charts on Netflix, but this time the phenomenon has transcended the small screen.
The news is not only that, since its premiere on June 20, the film has reached the top 10 on Netflix in many of the 93 countries where the platform operates. The unprecedented part is that four songs from its soundtrack are among the top 10 most listened to in the world on Spotify, surpassing even the super successful real K-pop bands.
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Something similar happened with Huntr/x, who have surpassed the quartet Blackpink on the charts, placing their hit song, Golden, at number 2 on the global Spotify chart. Netflix revealed this week that it will submit this song written and performed by a South Korean singer-songwriter known as EJAE, who voices Rumi. The Korean-American rapper Audrey Nuna has lent her voice to Mira, and the role of Zoey has been played by the singer Rei Ami. American media have highlighted that the songs from the film made it to the top 10 of the Billboard 200, marking the best debut of a soundtrack so far this year.
In South Korea, where they celebrate their latest global success, they are incredulous to see that two fictional groups top the music charts in the United States. Critics point out that in this new triumph, producers like Teddy Park, key in the careers of the most important K-pop bands, were involved in creating the film's album.
"Anything that starts with a K seems to excite the audience at the moment"
"While it is an American production by Sony Pictures Animation, the film incorporates typically Korean elements, from food and language to traditional clothing and signs, presenting Korean culture to the international audience in new ways. The film has received praise for authentically portraying K-pop fandom and idol culture," reads a note published in the newspaper The Korea Times.
The Saja Boys make their first on-screen appearance dressed in traditional black hanboks (the Korean national costume) and wide-brimmed hats that cast shadows on their pale faces. An outfit very familiar to the local audience. "Like K-pop and K-beauty, anything that starts with a K seems to excite the global audience at the moment," highlighted the film's director, Maggie Kang, who also wrote the story.
Four songs from the film's soundtrack are among the top 10 most listened to on Spotify globally
The songs from The K-pop Warriors are a hit while the Blackpink girls are filling stadiums on their first world tour in two years, and the seven BTS boys, who have been apart because many of their members had to complete mandatory military service, are in the U.S. working on a new album.
In Seoul, there are already rumors that a second part of the animated film will soon be in the works and that many Asian and Western gaming companies are negotiating to develop a video game featuring the K-pop demon hunters.