According to the latest announcement from Billboard, the soundtrack album of the hit Netflix cartoon Kpop Demon Hunters climbed to No. 3 on the US Billboard 200 chart, after reaching No. 8 last week. This is the highest-charting soundtrack album on the Billboard 200 this year.
In addition, on the US weekly singles chart, Billboard Hot 100, the main title track of the movie "Golden", performed by the girl group Huntr/x, has skyrocketed by 58 places, reaching 23rd place this week.
The song "Your Idol" by the boy band Saja Boys in the film also increased by 46 places, to 31st place on the chart.
At the same time, 5 other songs from the soundtrack album "Kpop Demon Hunters" also appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 this week: "How It's done" landed at No. 42, followed by "Soda Pop" at No. 49, "What It Sounds Like" at No. 55, " Free" at No. 58, and " Takedown" - performed by 3 members of Kpop girl group TWICE - at No. 64.
With all the songs in the soundtrack album currently on the Billboard Hot 100, "Kpop Demon Hunters" stands out as a rare cartoon with all of the original soundtracks on the chart.
Previously, the two virtual groups Saja Boys and Huntr/x broke BTS and Blackpink's records on the US Spotify chart, becoming the highest-charting Kpop boy group and girl group on the chart (the two songs "Your Idol" and "Golden" both rose to No. 1).
According to Korea Joongang Daily, music industry experts are expecting the soundtrack album "Kpop Demon Hunters" to achieve success like "Encanto" - the film that won the nomination for Best Original Song, Best Original Song and Best animated film at the 94th Academy Awards (Oscar).
Many predict that "Kpop Demon Hunters" could be a candidate for many Oscar categories next year.
Netflix has confirmed that it will send "Golden" for consideration for the Best Original Song nomination. The Academy's official X account even shared about the virtual group Huntr/x with the humorous content: "Huntr/x not only saves the world, they also save my Spotify Wrapped".
Jim Roppo, CEO of Republic Records, the producer of "Golden", shared that this animated film and its soundtrack album have "crossed global limits", even attracting audiences who have never followed any K-pop-related content on Netflix.
"This is not a K-pop phenomenon. Now, it's a popular cultural phenomenon," he said.
Billboard magazine also highlighted the potential awards of "Golden".
If "Golden" is nominated, Kim Eun Jae, who wrote the song and voiced the film's lead character ( Huntr/x member), will become the second Korean composer to receive an Oscar nomination.
Kim Eun Jae is known by his stage name EJAE, trained as a teenager under SM Entertainment, and is the composer of hits such as Red Velvet's "Psycho" (2019) and aespa's "Armageddon" (2024).
Music critic Lim Jin Mo commented, "Kpop Demon Hunters is not only a representative of a Kpop film, but also a turning point showing that Kpop has entered the global popular music field, even a global cultural phenomenon".
He compared it to "the musical version of Squid Game, another hit work by Netflix that brought Korean pop culture to the world.
