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Forbes
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘KPop Demon Hunters' Songwriter Reveals Music And Song Inspirations
KPOP DEMON HUNTERS - When they aren't selling out stadiums, Kpop superstars Rumi, Mira and Zoey use ... More their secret identities as badass demon hunters to protect their fans from an ever-present supernatural threat. Together, they must face their biggest enemy yet – an irresistible rival boy band of demons in disguise. ©2025 Netflix Netflix's KPop Demon Hunters is the talk of the town, hitting No. 1 in 26 countries and Top 10 in 93 countries in its debut week. The soundtrack itself has also seen its fair share of No. 1 in iTunes Top Albums Chart, Apple Music Pop Charts, and on Spotify's Charts. The film centers on a girl K-pop group, Huntrix, who are secretly demon hunters sworn to protect the world from supernatural threats. When a rival boy band group, The Saja Boys, are revealed to be demons, the trio must do whatever it takes to defeat them – in battle and with their music. With the massive popularity of K-pop, KPop Demon Hunters has sparked many debates and discussions on their inspirations. From their looks to the culture to the music, fans have been dissecting the film and its characters for any signs of real-life K-pop inspirations. Director Maggie Kang shared that the art team found inspiration for Huntrix and The Saja Boys from several groups. She later clarified that there were too many people in and out of K-pop, from which they drew from. The writing team, who are K-pop fans themselves, conducted extensive research on incorporating K-pop fan culture, including the use of lightsticks, variety shows, music awards, and fan signs. As for the music, the film collaborated with THEBLACKLABEL to create the instrumental music styles and enlisted several pop songwriters and lyricists to craft lyrics that matched the story. One of the songwriters (and the singing voice of Rumi), EJAE, who has worked with TWICE, aespa, and many other K-pop groups, revealed the process she went through to develop the songs sung by Huntrix and The Saja Boys. She wrote and arranged 'The Huntrix Mantra,' 'How It's Done,' 'Golden,' and "Your Idol." '[It was] a lot,' EJAE says. 'There were so many versions of [all the songs]. We had different songs that they scrapped or they'll hold. I think for one of the songs, I'm not even kidding. I did [around] 57 demos.' She would be sent the scene descriptions along with the director's notes on the desired track type, song references, and the intended vibe. THEBLACKLABEL would create the instrumental track and send it to EJAE and the other songwriters to write the lyrics, create the concept and melodies, and then record the demo to send back to the music team for notes. She says, 'It was a lot of back and forth.' KPOP DEMON HUNTERS - When they aren't selling out stadiums, Kpop superstars Rumi, Mira and Zoey use ... More their secret identities as badass demon hunters to protect their fans from an ever-present supernatural threat. Together, they must face their biggest enemy yet – an irresistible rival boy band of demons in disguise. ©2025 Netflix For Huntrix, EJAE reveals the music was inspired by several K-pop artists, particularly BLACKPINK and ('a little bit of') aespa. It made sense as BLACKPINK has worked closely with the team at THEBLACKLABEL since their debut. EJAE herself has written several songs for aespa, creating this cinematic sound for their music. She applied all of that to the songs for Huntrix. 'It was a mixture of the two,' she says. 'I wanted BLACKPINK but [add that] cinematic [element]. They all wanted Rumi to have power vocals, so I cranked up my attitude, screaming [the vocals] in this little corner [of my apartment].' One of the tracks written by EJAE and her writing partner, Mark Sonnenblick, has been getting a lot of attention for its sound and meaning behind the music. The song 'Your Idol,' sung by The Saja Boys in their demon form, highlights the fandom's obsession with them. She reveals the track was inspired by EXO's songs 'MAMA' and 'Obsession.' EJAE recalls receiving the instrumental track from THEBLACKLABEL with the EXO references and began working on the lyrics. 'It's about the obsession of fans [because the Saja Boys] want them to be obsessed [to control them],' she explains. 'That sounds like what an Idol is. I was raised Christian and remembered it's a sin to idolize something. So, it was like a twist of 'I'll be your Idol.' It was kinda creepy.' KPOP DEMON HUNTERS - When they aren't selling out stadiums, Kpop superstars Rumi, Mira and Zoey use ... More their secret identities as badass demon hunters to protect their fans from an ever-present supernatural threat. Together, they must face their biggest enemy yet – an irresistible rival boy band of demons in disguise. ©2025 Netflix If a real K-pop group sang 'I'll be your Idol,' it would be considered cute. That's why she wanted to incorporate some demonic elements to make it creepy. She recalls some horror stories of fan obsession as a former K-pop trainee and used that as inspiration for the lyrics and arrangements. 'When the obsession gets too much, it's really creepy,' she says. 'So I thought being an Idol and being obsessive wasn't the best thing, so I wrote that into the lyrics.' EJAE was inspired by the choir portion of EXO's 'MAMA' and added her version into the song. She created the harmonies and sounds to evoke a cathedral – a place of worship for the Idols. She reveals the chorus intro to 'Your Idol' was 'The Huntrix Mantra' in reverse. 'I reversed [the audio] and harmonized that,' she shares. 'I was like, 'Whoa, this sounds like a cathedral. [It was] weird. So, I did that and added harmonies to make it sound even creepier and have a kind of old Latin vibe.' She enjoyed experimenting with the music, adding more layers and putting her K-pop twist to it. Having only worked with girl groups, she had fun creating a boy band song, making the demos in a girl's key, then pitching it down to sound like a guy. She laughs, 'It was interesting.' KPop Demon Hunters is available to stream on Netflix.
Korea Herald
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
WayV to drop 7th EP next month
WayV is gearing up to return with its seventh EP 'Big Bands' on July 18, label SM Entertainment announced Monday. The upcoming mini album will be dropped about eight months after the group's previous EP 'Frequency,' which charted in the top five on the iTunes Top Albums Chart in 19 regions and earned the band three trophies from the television music charts in Korea. The new EP will consist of six tracks, including Korean and Chinese-language versions of the title track. Soon after the album release, the band of six will launch its second concert tour, 'No Way Out.' After going live in Seoul on Aug. 2-3, it will visit fans in 13 more cities across Asia, from Beijing and Shanghai to Bangkok and Osaka, Japan. Meanwhile, WayV hit the stage in London on Saturday, joining the lineup for the label's all-star concert "SM Town Live 2025."
Korea Herald
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Astro's Sanha to drop 2nd solo EP
Yoon Sanha of Astro is gearing up to return with his second solo EP on July 15, his agency Fantagio announced Monday. Along with the news, a teaser trailer for EP 'Chameleon' was uploaded that shows different sides of the musician, from being mischievous to free and relaxed. The forthcoming set comes about a year after his first solo endeavor, the EP 'Dusk,' which topped the iTunes Top Albums Chart in 12 regions; the main track 'Dive' debuted atop its Top Songs Chart in 10. In April, Sanha held solo concerts in Japan and Korea in time for his birthday. Separately, the group celebrated its ninth debut anniversary with a concert in Incheon on June 7 and 8. The two-date live show was the group's first stand-alone gig in about three years.
Korea Herald
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
EXO's D.O teams up with Zico for 1st solo LP
D.O of EXO, also known as Doh Kyungsoo, joined forces with Zico for his first solo studio album, agency Company Soosoo said Friday. The track list for the LP 'Bliss' shows ten songs from the upcoming release, including lead single 'Sing Along!' The two musicians co-authored the lyrics of the song, and Zico participated in writing the melody. The album will be rolled out on July 7, but D.O will upload five live clips of songs before the full album release. The LP comes more than a year after his third solo EP 'Blossom,' which topped the iTunes Top Albums Chart in 36 regions. After dropping the album, he will embark on a tour in Asia, a first for him as a solo act. He is slated to perform in nine cities, from Seoul and Jakarta to Bangkok and Tokyo.
Korea Herald
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
GOT7's Yugyeom tops iTunes Chart in 7 regions with 2nd solo LP
Yugyeom of GOT7 placed his second solo studio album atop the iTunes Top Albums Chart in seven regions, agency AOMG said Wednesday. His LP 'Interlunar' was released Tuesday and one of the two focus tracks, 'Shall We Dance,' debuted atop its Top Songs Chart in three regions as well as a real-time domestic music chart. The album consists of 10 tracks, and it conveys the performer's promise to stay with fans, although he may be away from them for the time being. Yugyeom is set to enlist soon. Until April, he hosted a monthslong solo tour that took him to 18 cities around the world. Meanwhile, GOT7 held a two-day concert in Bangkok in May. The Thai gig marked the group's debut at the national stadium and drew about 85,000 fans.
