“Golden” is a song performed by Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami as the fictional K-pop girl group Huntr/x in the 2025 animated musical fantasy film KPop Demon Hunters. It was released on July 4, 2025, through Republic Records, as the second single from the film’s soundtrack album. “Golden” received acclaim from critics for its lyrics and catchy composition. In addition to the overall success of the film’s soundtrack, the song reached number one on the Billboard Global 200, and also topped the charts in Australia, Germany, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The song additionally peaked within the top ten in eleven other countries.
The animated musical fantasy film KPop Demon Hunters was released on Netflix on June 20, 2025. The film follows the fictional K-pop girl group Huntr/x, consisting of members Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, whose singing voices are performed by Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami, respectively. The film’s accompanying soundtrack album was released on the same day, with “Golden” as the fourth track. Following the song’s success, Republic Records officially released it as a single on July 4, 2025, along with an instrumental and acapella version. It was also announced that “Golden” would be submitted for awards consideration. Billboard noted that “following the soundtrack’s second-week streaming explosion, Republic hustled to have ‘Golden’ impact top 40 radio stations” on July 8. Republic Records Chairman Jim Roppo stated that they were also in discussions on “potential remixes of” the song “with some ‘A-list remixers’ in play”. A remix of “Golden” by David Guetta was later released on July 25.
Ian Eisendrath, executive producer for the soundtrack album, described “Golden” as an “I Want” song in traditional musical film structure, as it explores the characters’ purpose while also dwelling on Rumi’s inner thoughts, resulting in the change of an “inspirational pop” to a slightly darker genre. Eisendrath explained that they initially “had five to six songs written for that slot” but kept developing “until it was the right energy. The directors are tough customers, in the best possible way, and they had a real vision for what this needed to be”. The song was co-written by Ejae and Mark Sonnenblick “under the guidance” of Eisendrath. The Chosun Daily highlighted that “while over 90% of the lyrics are in English, key moments feature Korean words such as ‘eoduwajin’ (‘darkened’) and ‘yeongwonhi ggaejil su eomneun’ (‘unbreakable forever’), preserving its K-pop identity”.
The Chosun Daily also noted music critic Lim Hee-yoon’s observation that “the powerful high note reaching up to a high A in the third octave is rarely used in idol songs” which adds “freshness”. Ars Technica commented that the song “spans an impressive three-octave range, eventually hitting an A-5 on the chorus–a high note usually reserved for classically trained operatic sopranos”. Speaking with Korea JoongAng Daily, Ejae explained that she “intentionally wrote a challenging vocal line” in order to “reflect both Rumi’s vocal prowess and her fierce determination”, and commented further that she “just followed where the melody took me, and suddenly I was hitting an A5 note”. Co-director Maggie Kang stated that they “had Ejae sing the highest notes that she could possibly sing in a lot of the songs” which included “Golden”. The Washington Post reported “it was important to Kang that the song embody ‘the feeling that you get when you hear an artist, like, just put all of her talent and effort and that physical struggle into hitting a note'”.
Anne Branigin of The Washington Post commented that “Golden”‘s “popularity can be measured not just in its streaming numbers but also in the scores of covers (dance, vocal and instrumental) and passionate lip-synching videos that it has inspired on TikTok and Instagram”, noting that “even real-life K-pop idols are fans, sharing their own interpretations of the dances and songs”. Branigin also highlighted that the song has accomplished “a rare feat for a K-pop song” by “even being played on American radio” – during August 1-7, its radio airplay audience impressions “surged more than 70 percent”. In addition to the film’s successful soundtrack, “Golden” attained individual commercial success worldwide, charting on various national record charts and garnering millions of streams. It reached number one on both the Billboard Global 200 and the Billboard Global Excl. US charts during the weeks of July 19; the song was displaced in the following week by Blackpink’s “Jump”, before returning to the top position in the week of August 2, holding at number one for the subsequent two weeks.
