“Golden” is living up to its name: The “KPop Demon Hunters” track has nabbed four Grammy nominations, including a coveted nod song of the year. “Golden” — performed by Huntr/x (EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami) and written by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, DO, 24 and Teddy — also appears in the best pop duo/group performance, best song written for visual media and best remixed recording categories.
EJAE, Nuna and Ami spoke with Variety on Friday morning shortly after the nominations were revealed.
“I’m not able to digest this time. I’m still in shock,” EJAE said with emotion in her voice. Ami was also visibly tearful, admitting she hadn’t stopped crying: “It feels out of this world.”
Nuna said the nominations were an honor, but it was the representation that was important: “You’re going to see three Korean faces. To think about the kids who are going to see that, and hopefully for that to shape their understanding of what they can do in this world, is the stuff that is giving me chills up my spine.”
EJAE, who made history as the first Korean-American female songwriter to be nominated for song of the year, admitted she felt some “imposter syndrome.” Ami added: “As Korean women, we were often told we have to work twice as hard, we have to show up earlier, we have to show out more than our average counterparts in order for us to receive the same accolade or even recognition.”
A David Guetta remix of “Golden” is also nominated for best remixed recording (the award would go to Guetta as the remixer), and the full “KPop Demon Hunters” soundtrack is up for best compilation soundtrack for visual media.
The song of the year category is wide in range as “Golden” competes with “Abracadabra” by Lady Gaga, “Anxiety” by Doechii, “APT.” by Rosé and Bruno Mars, “DtMF” by Bad Bunny, “Luther” by Kendrick Lamar with SZA, “Manchild” by Sabrina Carpenter, and “Wildflower” by Billie Eilish.
“Golden” also competes with “Defying Gravity” (Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande), “Gabriela” (Katseye), “Apt.” (Rosé, Bruno Mars) and “30 For 30″ (SZA with Kendrick Lamar)” for best pop duo/group performance. In the visual media category, “Golden” is up against “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” (Nine Inch Nails), “I Lied to You” (Miles Caton), “Never Too Late” (Elton John, Brandi Carlile), “Pale, Pale Moon” (Jayme Lawson) and “Sinners” (Leonard Denisenko, Rodarius Green, Travis).
As for whom Huntr/x is looking forward to seeing at the show next year, their response was “all of the above,” to their fellow song of the year nominees. “And Sabrina Carpenter. I love Sabrina Carpenter,” added Ami.
However, despite industry expectations and heavy awards buzz, the track missed a nod for record of the year, a category many believed it would secure. A nom there would have made history, marking Huntr/x as the first K-pop group ever recognized in that field.
Since its debut on Netflix in June, the film became the streamer’s most popular movie of all time. Meanwhile, three of its original songs — “Golden,” “Your Idol” and “Soda Pop” — have been mainstays on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
“KPop Demon Hunters” has been such a phenomenon that the theatrical-averse Netflix decided to bring a sing-along version of the film to theaters for fan events in August and October. During the first go-around, “KPop Demon Hunters” topped the box office with roughly $18 million over two days. Then around Halloween, the movie collected $5 million to $6 million, which is noteworthy considering it’s been widely available on streaming for months.
