KPop Demon Hunters’ Golden, Your Idol face off on Billboard chart

In a twist where fiction meets chart-topping reality, two songs from the animated universe of KPop Demon Hunters are now locked in a very real rivalry on the Billboard Hot 100, the definitive ranking of singles in the US.

On Tuesday, Billboard announced that Golden, performed by the in-universe girl group Huntrix, held steady at No. 2 for the second consecutive week.

Another track from the same animated franchise, Your Idol by Saja Boys, also climbed to No. 9 from No. 12, marking its debut in the chart’s top 10.

Saja Boys is the fictional rival boy band of Huntrix.

A STREAMING POWERHOUSE

Golden has been on the Hot 100 for six straight weeks, beginning with a modest debut at No. 81 before rocketing up to 23, 6, 4 and now twice at No. 2.

According to Billboard, the song logged 28.9 million streams in the US during the latest tracking week, up 13% from the previous week.

Radio airplay and digital sales also rose by 31% and 19%, respectively, over the same period, bolstered by the release of a guitar remix by DJ David Guetta, which dropped on July 25.

Despite its surge, Golden remains held off the top spot by Ordinary, a soulful ballad by American pop star Alex Warren, who continues his reign at No. 1 for a ninth straight week.

Your Idol isn’t just tagging along. It, too, has spent six weeks on the Hot 100 and now claims a top-10 spot of its own.

The success of both Golden and Your Idol is part of a growing trend, in which fictional or animated music acts achieve real-world chart success – a phenomenon previously seen when Disney tracks went viral. 

If Golden eventually reaches No. 1, it would join a very short list of animated film or series soundtracks to top the Hot 100 – a list that includes just a handful of songs over the decades, such as A Whole New World from Aladdin and We Don’t Talk About Bruno from Encanto.

Write to Sookyung Seo at skseo@hankyung.com

Jennifer Nicholson-Breen edited this article.