KPop Demon Hunters is projected to possibly become Netflix’s most-streamed movie ever in the coming weeks, and for good reason. The animated action musical is a visual feast that’s already made its way to the #4 spot on Netflix’s all-time list, buoyed by an incredible KPop soundtrack by fictional groups Huntr/x and Saja Boys that is topping the charts in the music world. That collection of original songs has been one of the major draws for the film, but how do those songs compare to one another? Some songs are elevated (or, in other cases, hindered) by their placement in the movie, but in a musical, no song is ever just a song. It’s a moment in a story crystallized and encapsulated in its most uninhibited form. So even if a song doesn’t quite hit the same way others do, that very feeling of something being off or the characters not quite giving it their all is very likely a storytelling tool in KPop Demon Hunters. We’re going to examine each of these numbers within that context and rank all seven of its original songs.
“Takedown”
Hey, hey, hey. We just started. Put the tomatoes away until the end, please. “Takedown” is a fan favorite (let’s be honest, most of the songs are fan favorites because they’re all bangers), but when the song’s entire narrative meaning in the film is that the girls are decidedly unenthusiastic about the diss track, it’s not too surprising that it’s one of Huntr/x’s weaker works. It oozes attitude and grit, but even when it comes to those vibes, the song is pretty markedly outclassed by another song that blew the roof off at the beginning of the movie. Even when I was rewatching the film and hearing the girls brainstorm its lyrics without any of the backing music, I just didn’t feel that the group’s heart was in it like it is in all the other numbers. It’s an effective storytelling tool, but it doesn’t translate to one of KPop Demon Hunters’ better songs.
“Soda Pop”
Saja Boys’ debut single is, as Mira says while the demon boy band is performing it for the first time, “infectious.” It’s the most straightforward bubblegum pop song in the movie, and the group’s flirtatious sex appeal cranks its cutesy wordplay up to something that would have all the girls and gays losing their goddamn minds in an arena show. The Saja Boys mostly end up being extensions of Jinu’s plans throughout the movie, but “Soda Pop” is the one time it feels like all five members really get to express their individual personalities, from Baby Saja getting to rap to Romance having a…well, romantic, lilting singing tone that gets put on display in the pre-chorus. The whole thing is, on its face, the kind of chart-topping hit that brings a new boy band outfit into the spotlight, but it all hides an insidious undertone, as it talks about the audience as something to be consumed. That’s foreshadowing, baby.
“Golden”
Ah, I see the tomatoes are out once again. Look, all these songs are great. “Golden,” easily the breakout song for KPop Demon Hunters based on chart and streaming numbers, is a gorgeous vocal showcase for lead singer Rumi, who absolutely soars as she sings of self-acceptance and her and her girls overcoming adversity to be their truest selves…only to take on a much more introspective, reserved tone in the bridge. As she privately whispers to herself about her own demonic patterns that she’s hidden from her friends and the world, “Golden” becomes a surprisingly subversive anthem that sets the tone for the entire film. It’s great! But it had some tough competition in this ranking.
“Your Idol”
The Saja Boys’ second song, “Your Idol,” is a masterful mask-off moment. The demonic group has shed their boy-band disguise and is presenting to an audience of brainwashed fans as their true, hellish selves. Gone are the neon color palettes of the Saja Boys’ original costumes; they’re now dressed in traditional Korean garb with their demonic patterns exposed for all the world to see. If that weren’t enough of an indicator that everything has gone awry, the song’s haunting Latin chant in the opening portends a world completely overtaken by the demon king and his musical lackeys. Even as the song shifts into an absolutely filthy industrial pop beat, the choir still chants underneath the Saja Boys’ singing as they beckon the helpless crowd into the mouth of the demon king. Jinu and his demon crew still put on a seductive show, but their violent intention is no longer masked behind boyish good looks. It’s a harrowing song that’s also an absolute banger.
“How It’s Done”
“Takedown” is billed as KPop Demon Hunters’ diss track, but “How It’s Done,” the opening number that introduces Huntr/x’s demon-hunting musical talents, is so superior as a showcase of the girls’ attitude, lyricism, and their status as pro-level haters, that it takes the wind out of the other song’s sails. “How It’s Done” and the opening sequence set to it make for such an incredible tone-setter for the whole film that it’s a feat in and of itself that the movie manages to live up to it across the rest of its runtime. It’s a barrage of nasty reads, fierce wordplay, and infectious swagger set to incredible demon-slaying choreography. Every beat, bar, and change in flow has a corresponding strike, stab, or bludgeon as the girls rock a bunch of demons’ shit while rapping and singing about how these foes are just cannon fodder, roaches to be crushed under their heels while they get ready to perform for thousands of adoring fans. Then these absolute queens Fortnite dive onto the stage while skysurfing on their enemies’ ragdolling bodies and making sure their makeup and hair are just right. If you came into KPop Demon Hunters even vaguely unconvinced it would have the sauce, Huntr/x silences any doubts with “How It’s Done.” God, that shit rules.
“Free”
I think “Free” is the best animated musical love song since “A Whole New World” from Aladdin. I know that’s a bold statement, but Rumi and Jinu’s lone duet in KPop Demon Hunters is such a lovely vocal showcase for both singers, and by god, I feel my soul lift from my body every time the chorus hits. “Free” is KPop Demon Hunters at its most restrained, and even then, it is head and shoulders above the best most movie musicals have to offer as a vocal showcase for its leads. The ballad is a beautiful admission from two warring parties that they can dream of a life beyond the ones they’ve been told they have to have, and maybe, if they can find a way, they can reach that life together. Rumi’s singing is as gorgeous as ever, but one of the most surprising aspects is Jinu’s rap-like verse that manages to fit surprisingly well into a song that, up until that point, had been a pretty straightforward ballad. The song builds so well, utilizing both singers’ strengths in a way that makes it feel like the two are crafting it together, making space for one another’s talents as well as all their faults. Goddamn, KPop Demon Hunters knows how to tell a story in songwriting just as well as it does in lyricism.
“What It Sounds Like”
A good musical can live or die by its closing number. By the time KPop Demon Hunters reaches “What It Sounds Like,” it’s already had six good to incredible songs, and it somehow has to leave on a note that wraps up its story, sums up everything its characters have learned, and is also an incredible group performance that manages to be at least on par with everything it’s already done. “What It Sounds Like” does all of that so effortlessly that I’m still kind of in awe of it. You know what I do when I’m not listening to “What It Sounds Like”? I’m watching people react to it and making sure I’m not the only person who cries his eyes out as Huntr/x, having been torn apart and nearly lost to demonic influence, sing their apologies to one another as they fight their way through an army of demon spawn. The audience watches on, singing with them, and empowering the group to keep fighting, and eventually, they win the day.
Much of Rumi’s inner struggle in KPop Demon Hunters is in the self-imposed restraints she’s put on herself after being told for her whole life that she was a mistake to be corrected. It’s why her heart isn’t in the anti-demon sentiment of “Takedown.” It’s why “Golden” has to have an aside in which she gets to talk about what she’s actually feeling before she goes back out on stage to sing about the joys of being herself. “What It Sounds Like” is an anthemic summation of everything she and the rest of Huntr/x should have been doing this entire time. Rather than hiding everything from each other and the public and pretending to be perfect to write a song they couldn’t believe in, they’re putting it all on the line for one final, world-saving song that reflects who they truly are, rather than who they’ve been told they should be.
“The song we couldn’t write, this is what it sounds like.”
