Every New Zealand #1 single…
2
Golden by Huntrix
Topped the NZ chart for 8 (non-consecutive) weeks from 18 July 2025.
KPop Demon Hunters
The three pop stars/demon slayers of fictional KPop band Huntrix were the biggest pop-culture phenomenon of 2025. Their face-off against rival band the Saja Boys in KPop Demon Hunters has already made it the most popular Netflix title ever.
‘Golden’ set a record for the longest-running animated chart topper on the US Hot 100. It surpassed the previous record holders: The Archies’ ‘Sugar, Sugar’ (1969) and The Chipmunks’ ‘The Chipmunk Song’ (1958).
Golden
Ejae cowrote ‘Golden’ as the movie’s centrepiece, and supplied the lead vocal. It’s notable for its wide vocal range – spanning three octaves up to A5.
The directors told Mashable that they “wanted the Saja Boys’ songs to be super catchy, but slightly hollow, like there’s no real soul underneath.” In comparison, Huntrix’s songs were designed to be deeper – “the idea was that the surface-level part of your heart might be obsessed with the boys, but the deeper part is moved by the girls.”
My Verdict
I’m not the target audience, but it’s hard to be moved by facile lines like:
We’re goin’ up, up, up, it’s our moment
You know together we’re glowin’
Gonna be, gonna be golden
Oh-oh-oh, up, up, up with our voices
There’s little to enjoy here – it’s just pseudo-inspirational lyrics slapped onto a predictable melody.
The Aftermath
K-pop is already popular in the Western world, aided by ‘Gangnam Style‘ in the previous decade. But KPop Demon Hunters‘ success marks a new peak in the Korean Wave.
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Graham, after hearing Kimmel talk with one of his guests about sitting down with his child to watch KPop and liking it despite himself, I had to watch (and hear) it. I remember there being a lot of music in it and thinking the movie was OK, I have to say none of it has stuck with me. I’m surprised Frozen wasn’t a contender to cartoon soundtrack record being set.
I guess ‘Let It Go’ feels a lot more like a Disney soundtrack song, rather than a standalone pop song. I loved ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ from a few years ago – a lot more funny and subtle.
Not my cup of tea but, hey, evidently lots of other folks like(d) it, so who am I to say they are wrong.
I kind of like thinking about taste – why some songs work for some people. I can kind of see the appeal here, but it’s just not interesting for me.
Working with primary school children, my feelings about this song are verging on PTSD at this point… Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but it has been done to death.
IMO, Soda Pop is even worse…..
In the context of the film I believe Soda Pop is meant to be horribly annoying and catchy, so it does its job!
Yup – certainly succeeds at that. I haven’t seen the film.
Haven’t seen the movie yet – our kids really liked it though!
Yea I could see kids liking this.
And being attached to a hit movie never hurts. Feels like movies force people to take in music that they wouldn’t hear otherwise.
Yes…a good example here would have been “Guardians of the Galaxy”…it got a lot of kids into 70s music.