The K-Pop Demon Hunters Soundtrack: Every Song Explained — From Golden to What It Sounds Like

There are movie soundtracks. And then there is the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack — a collection of songs that didn't just accompany a film but became a genuine, record-shattering global phenomenon in its own right.

Released on June 20, 2025, the same day as the film itself, the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack made history in ways that even the most optimistic person involved in its creation never saw coming. It became the first film soundtrack ever to place four songs simultaneously in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. It reached number one on the Billboard 200. It accumulated over ten billion global streams. Its lead single "Golden" became the number one most-streamed global release of 2025, spent eight weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, and won a Grammy — the first K-pop song in history to do so.

But what makes the HUNTR/X soundtrack truly special isn't the numbers. It's the music itself. Every song in the film serves a specific narrative purpose. Every lyric connects to a character's emotional journey. Every beat was crafted with the precision of genuine K-pop and the intentionality of a Broadway musical. This isn't background music. It's storytelling.

This guide breaks down every major song from the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack — what it sounds like, what it means, where it sits in the story, and why it hits the way it does.

How the HUNTR/X Soundtrack Was Made

Before diving into the songs themselves, it's worth understanding how this soundtrack came to exist — because the process was as unusual as the result.

Directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans were committed from the very beginning to creating a K-pop soundtrack that was authentic, not approximate. They didn't want pop songs loosely inspired by K-pop. They wanted the real thing — sonically, culturally, and emotionally.

To accomplish that, they assembled a production team that reads like a K-pop dream lineup. TEDDY, co-founder of THEBLACKLABEL and the producer behind some of the biggest names in K-pop including Taeyang and Blackpink, was brought in as a core production force. Grammy winner Lindgren, who has worked with BTS and TWICE as well as Dua Lipa and John Legend, contributed production. Grammy-nominated Stephen Kirk, known for his work with BTS and Tomorrow X Together, joined the team. Jenna Andrews, whose credits include BTS, Drake, and Jennifer Lopez, contributed songwriting. And tying all of it together was executive music producer Ian Eisendrath, whose background spanning Broadway and prestige television gave the project its musical theater structural DNA.

The result of all those voices working together was a soundtrack that finely balances the hook-driven energy of K-pop with the narrative necessity of a film musical — two traditions that don't always play nicely together, but in this case created something genuinely new.

EJAE, the Korean-American singer-songwriter who voices Rumi's singing and co-wrote several songs including "Golden," joined the project before there was even a finished script. Her task was to authentically translate K-pop for a screen audience while serving the story. She described the experience as deeply personal — she cried while recording the "Golden" demo. She put her own experiences into the bridge. The result is music that sounds like a smash hit and feels like a confession.

How It's Done — The Opening Statement

The film announces its ambitions immediately. "How It's Done" is HUNTR/X's opening performance number — the song playing as the audience first sees Rumi, Mira, and Zoey on stage together, commanding a stadium, and establishing who they are before a single word of dialogue has been spoken.

Sonically, "How It's Done" is pure K-pop confidence. Driving percussion, layered vocal harmonies, a chorus built for a stadium, and production that immediately signals this is a group at the peak of their powers. It's a statement song — not about vulnerability or longing but about arrival. HUNTR/X has nothing to prove. Watch them anyway.

Within the film's narrative, the song serves a dual purpose: it introduces the group to the audience as global superstars, and it subtly establishes the Honmoon's power. The energy of the crowd, the scale of the performance, the way the camera lingers on the fans singing every word — all of it is laying the groundwork for the reveal that this music is literally keeping demons from destroying the world.

"How It's Done" became one of the soundtrack's four simultaneous top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching the top eleven on Spotify's Daily Top Songs USA chart within weeks of release. For a song that functions primarily as a scene-setter rather than a climactic emotional centerpiece, that achievement says everything about the quality of the songwriting.

Golden — The Song That Changed Everything

"Golden" is the centerpiece of the entire K-Pop Demon Hunters universe. Everything in the film builds toward it. Everything in the culture follows from it. It is the song that made history and the song that made people cry in ways they didn't expect.

Within the film, "Golden" functions as what executive music producer Ian Eisendrath describes as a traditional "I Want" song — the musical theater term for the number in which a protagonist expresses their deepest desire and reveals what the story is truly about. But where a typical "I Want" song belongs to one character, "Golden" belongs to all three members of HUNTR/X simultaneously, each one expressing a version of the same longing.

Rumi wants to stop hiding her demon nature and finally live as herself. Mira wants to believe that her chosen family will never leave her. Zoey wants the world to know that this music — their music — matters. The genius of the song is that all three of those desires express the same fundamental truth: we all want to be fully seen and fully loved, without condition.

The songwriting process for "Golden" was neither quick nor easy. The creative team went through five to six complete versions of the song before landing on the final arrangement. Each version was good. None of them were right. When EJAE, TEDDY's THEBLACKLABEL team, and lyricist Mark Sonnenblick finally cracked it, the feeling was immediate. As EJAE recalls, after finishing "Golden" she and Sonnenblick looked at each other and said without hesitation: "This sounds like a smash."

Structurally, the song moves through three distinct emotional phases. The verses are reflective and vulnerable — Rumi, Mira, and Zoey each addressing their own private fear. The chorus erupts into communal affirmation, the Honmoon's energy building with every repetition. And then the bridge arrives — and everything changes.

In the middle of the song, the film cuts to Rumi alone in her dressing room. The full production drops away. Her voice becomes what Eisendrath describes as "sotto voce" — a whispered, intimate intensity that strips all the K-pop polish from the moment and leaves something raw and true. This is where Rumi's demon markings glow beneath her sleeve. This is where the song stops being an anthem and becomes a confession. EJAE has said she put her own feelings into recording that bridge — feelings about hiding, about longing to be accepted, about daring to hope. The emotional authenticity in those few seconds is what turns "Golden" from an excellent pop song into something that feels almost unbearably personal.

The bridge lyric that the team developed carries the song's core message: done hiding, now shining, born to be exactly this. It's an empowerment anthem that earns its optimism by first sitting honestly with the fear underneath it.

"Golden" reached number one on the Billboard Global 200 within a day of its single release. It topped charts in more than 30 countries including South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It spent more weeks at number one on the Billboard Global 200 than any song in the chart's history. It is approaching four billion streams and remains the top-streamed track of 2026 so far. It won the Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media — the first Grammy ever won by a K-pop song. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song — the first Oscar nomination for the K-pop genre. It won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song. It won Best OST at both the Melon Music Awards and the MAMA Awards.

And the co-directors — described by producer Danny Chung as "tough customers, in the best possible way" who "had a real vision for what this needed to be" — were satisfied. That alone might be the most impressive achievement of all.

Your Idol — The Saja Boys and the Villain's Perspective

Not every great song in the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack belongs to HUNTR/X. "Your Idol" is the signature track of the Saja Boys — the rival boy band led by Jinu whose members are secretly demons working for the Demon King Gwi-Ma.

Sonically, "Your Idol" is designed as a deliberate counterpoint to HUNTR/X's sound. Where HUNTR/X's music is bright, warm, and built on community and shared energy, the Saja Boys' sound is sleeker, cooler, and slightly unsettling beneath the surface polish. It is K-pop boy band perfection with something wrong underneath — which is exactly who the Saja Boys are.

Within the narrative, "Your Idol" reveals what the Saja Boys are actually doing: draining the spiritual energy of their fans rather than empowering it. Every concert they perform weakens the Honmoon rather than reinforcing it. The song exists in the film as a trap — beautiful music deployed as a weapon. The fact that it is genuinely catchy makes the revelation of its purpose more disturbing rather than less.

"Your Idol" joined "Golden," "How It's Done," and "Soda Pop" as the four simultaneous top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 — making it one of the few villain songs in film history to achieve that level of commercial success. The Saja Boys topped the US Spotify daily chart, with Jinu and company becoming the highest-charting male K-pop group in the history of that chart, surpassing BTS.

Soda Pop — The Catchiest Trap in the Film

If "Your Idol" is the Saja Boys' serious statement, "Soda Pop" is their crowd-pleasing weapon. Light, effervescent, and criminally catchy, "Soda Pop" is the song Jinu uses specifically to manipulate Rumi — and it works partly because it works on the audience too.

The song's production is deliberately engineered to be irresistible. Bubbly synth lines, an earworm chorus, a playful lightness that makes it impossible not to sing along. This is exactly the point. The Saja Boys are at their most dangerous when they're at their most charming, and "Soda Pop" is peak charm weaponized.

Within the story, "Soda Pop" plays during the scenes where Jinu and Rumi are developing their complicated connection — two people trapped by shame and secret, drawn to each other partly because each one recognizes what the other is carrying. The lightness of the song contrasts deliberately with the emotional weight of those scenes, creating a tension that makes Rumi's eventual betrayal hit harder.

The Funko Pop! Chase variant of Demon Jinu in his "Soda Pop" bubblegum look was named directly after this song — a detail that delights fans who know the song's role in the story.

Takedown (TWICE Version) — The Real-World Connection

One of the most exciting elements of the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack is its bridge between the fictional and real K-pop worlds. "Takedown" is a song performed within the film by HUNTR/X, but its pre-release version — released as the soundtrack's lead single — was performed by TWICE members Jeongyeon, Jihyo, and Chaeyoung, making it the first point of contact between the real K-pop universe and the KPDH fictional one.

The TWICE version of "Takedown" signals to K-pop fans immediately that this film takes their world seriously. TWICE performing a song from a K-pop demon-hunting girl group's fictional discography is a statement of cultural legitimacy — a real idol group endorsing a fictional one. For fans of both TWICE and K-Pop Demon Hunters, it is an extraordinary moment of worlds colliding.

Jeongyeon noted that the film marked the first time just the three of them recorded a song together without the full TWICE lineup, calling it a special and memorable experience. The collaboration reflects one of the film's core achievements: bringing genuine K-pop authenticity to a fictional universe rather than settling for approximation.

What It Sounds Like — The Song That Saves Everything

If "Golden" is the film's emotional heart, "What It Sounds Like" is its soul. This is the final performance — the song that Rumi sings after her demon nature has been exposed to the world, after she has hit rock bottom, after Mira and Zoey have walked away. It is the song she sings for herself, without armor, without strategy, without any certainty that anyone is still listening.

And it is the song that brings everything back.

Musically, "What It Sounds Like" is the film's most emotionally complex composition. It begins stripped down and fragile — a voice and almost nothing else — and builds slowly, layer by layer, as the Honmoon energy returns. The moment when Mira first hears it through Gwi-Ma's influence and stops walking away is timed to a specific musical swell that, if you're not ready for it, will absolutely destroy you.

The song works because it earns its catharsis entirely. Every emotional beat that precedes it — Rumi's shame, Mira's hurt, Zoey's unconditional love tested to its limit — makes the moment when the music reaches them feel genuinely triumphant rather than manufactured. This is what Rumi sounds like when she stops hiding. This is what the Honmoon sounds like when it glows gold.

The Mattel Creations limited-edition HUNTR/X 3-Pack doll set is named directly after this song, featuring the trio in the costume designs they wear for this final performance. It is the most sought-after piece in the entire KPDH collectible universe precisely because of what this moment means to the fandom.

Jinu's Lament — The Villain's Heartbreak

Released as part of the deluxe soundtrack edition in September 2025, "Jinu's Lament" is the song that recontextualizes everything the Saja Boys represent. It is Jinu's song — and unlike everything else his group performs, it is not a weapon or a performance. It is a confession.

Within the film's extended lore, "Jinu's Lament" represents what Jinu sounds like when the mask is off — when he is not performing manipulation or charm or villainy but simply grieving the four hundred years of isolation and guilt that have defined his existence since he sold his soul to Gwi-Ma. It is a ballad of extraordinary beauty and genuine sadness, and it is the piece of the soundtrack that most clearly explains why so many fans who expected to love HUNTR/X ended up with complicated feelings about the Saja Boys as well.

The deluxe edition also includes "Prologue (Hunter's Mantra)" — a pre-narrative piece that establishes the ancient mythology of the demon hunters before the film's story begins. Together with "Jinu's Lament," these additions turn the soundtrack from a collection of great pop songs into a genuinely complete musical world.

Strategy (TWICE) and the Licensed Tracks

The soundtrack also includes three previously released tracks that appear within the film's world: "Strategy" by TWICE, "Love, Maybe" by MeloMance, and "Path" by Jokers. These songs function as the musical texture of the KPDH universe beyond HUNTR/X and the Saja Boys — the background music of a world where K-pop is everywhere, which is to say a world very much like our own.

"Strategy" by TWICE is the standout among these tracks for obvious reasons. TWICE is one of the most beloved real-world K-pop groups, and their presence in the film's world gives HUNTR/X's universe an additional layer of authenticity. If TWICE exists in the KPDH universe, then HUNTR/X exists in a world of real K-pop competition — which makes their success feel earned rather than fictional.

The Soundtrack's Legacy: What It Means for K-Pop

The K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack did something that many people had been arguing was impossible: it brought K-pop into the mainstream American music conversation on entirely K-pop's own terms.

It didn't soften the genre or sand down its cultural specificity to make it more palatable for a Western audience. It didn't strip out the Korean lyrics or the idol-group structure or the musical traditions that make K-pop what it is. It made something that was completely authentic to K-pop and completely irresistible to a global audience, and it proved that those two things are not in conflict.

The Grammy win for "Golden" was the moment that crystallized this achievement. Korean studies scholar Areum Jeong noted that for years, the Recording Academy had not recognized K-pop acts that had set record-breaking standards in the industry. The win for "Golden" was not just a win for the song or the film — it was recognition, long overdue, that K-pop's musical traditions and innovations belong in the same conversation as any other genre in the world.

EJAE, who as a child was made fun of for liking K-pop and who was later told she would never become a K-pop idol because she wasn't a good enough singer, wasn't a good enough dancer, was too old, and was too tall — woke up to the news of the Grammy nomination and cried happy tears for the first time. "It's incredible," she said, "to see K-pop just growing more and more and being part of a film that's really showcasing it in the most authentic way."

For every fan who ever felt embarrassed about loving K-pop, the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack is a vindication. For every fan who always knew K-pop was extraordinary, it is confirmation. And for every new fan who discovered it through this film — welcome. The Honmoon has always been here. It's just golden now.

The Full K-Pop Demon Hunters Soundtrack: Track List

The original soundtrack album features nine original songs alongside three licensed tracks. The deluxe edition, released September 5, 2025, added "Prologue (Hunter's Mantra)" and "Jinu's Lament" alongside sing-along, instrumental, and a cappella versions of the original songs. A Brazilian Portuguese edition followed on November 7, 2025, featuring songs from the Brazilian dub.

The core tracks, performed under the character group names Huntrix and Saja Boys:

How It's Done — Huntrix (HUNTR/X opening performance anthem) Golden — Huntrix (The "I Want" centerpiece; Grammy winner) Your Idol — Saja Boys (The villain group's signature) Soda Pop — Saja Boys (The charm weapon; names the Jinu Funko Chase variant) What It Sounds Like — Huntrix (The climactic final performance) Takedown — Huntrix (Pre-release single performed by TWICE members) Strategy — TWICE (Licensed track within the film's world) Love, Maybe — MeloMance (Licensed track) Path — Jokers (Licensed track) Prologue (Hunter's Mantra) — Deluxe edition Jinu's Lament — Deluxe edition

Frequently Asked Questions

What song from K-Pop Demon Hunters won the Grammy? "Golden," performed by Huntrix — the fictional group voiced and sung by EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami — won Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 68th Grammy Awards. It was the first Grammy ever won by a K-pop song, making history for the genre.

Who sings the songs in K-Pop Demon Hunters? The singing voices for HUNTR/X are provided by real artists: EJAE sings as Rumi, Audrey Nuna sings as Mira, and Rei Ami sings as Zoey. The Saja Boys' songs are performed by a separate group of vocalists credited under the Saja Boys name. TWICE members Jeongyeon, Jihyo, and Chaeyoung performed the pre-release single version of "Takedown."

How many K-Pop Demon Hunters songs were in the Billboard Hot 100 top ten? Four songs from the KPDH soundtrack reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously — "Golden," "Your Idol," "Soda Pop," and "How It's Done" — making it the first film soundtrack in the chart's history to achieve that feat.

What is "Golden" about in K-Pop Demon Hunters? "Golden" is HUNTR/X's "I Want" song — the track in which Rumi, Mira, and Zoey each express their deepest desire: to stop hiding, to believe in their chosen family, and to have their music matter. It also references the Golden Honmoon, the permanent magical seal that is the group's ultimate mission. The bridge specifically represents Rumi's private struggle with her half-demon identity.

Is the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack available to stream? Yes — the full soundtrack, including the deluxe edition tracks, is available on all major streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music. The official music video for "Golden" on the Sony Pictures Animation YouTube channel has over one billion views.