There’s no way we’d all forget that night. The night when the singing voice of the fictional Kpop idol group, HUNTRIX from “KPop Demon Hunters,” EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami turned “The Tonight Show” into a K-Pop dreamscape with “Golden.” It was electric, unapologetic, and everything you once wished Korean artists could do without fear—or anxiety.
Watching EJAE sing live—unfiltered, radiant, and finally free—you felt that rush of pride every K-pop fan knows too well. Yet underneath it all, there’s still that quiet ache. Because in fact, the global voice who’s now echoing through Netflix, Billboard, and Spotify belonged to someone who was once told she was “too old” to debut in Korea.
How so? Well, here’s a story of EJAE, the voice of HUNTRIX Rumi, the icon of “KPop Demon Hunters,” and how the brilliant star South Korea let go might just start a new beginning of the “Golden” era for the unseen idols and trainees in K-pop.
EJAE: The Voice Korea Overlooked, The World Celebrated
Before “KPop Demon Hunters” made history as Netflix’s most-watched animated musical, EJAE was just another name buried in the K-pop trainee system. She joined SM Entertainment when she was 11, trained for nearly a decade, and spent her youth mastering everything from dance to diction. But the idol system had one answer waiting for her at 23—too old to debut.
So she shifted. From center stage to the studio booth, from trainee to songwriter, and from unseen idol to the “Benny Blanco of K-pop.” Her pen quietly shaped some of the biggest hits you’ve danced to—Red Velvet’s “Psycho,” Aespa’s “Drama,” TWICE’s “Last Waltz,” and LE SSERAFIM’s “So Cynical.” As K-pop fans, some of you may not have known her face, but you have certainly lived her sound.
EJAE was one of the many reasons why both HUNTRIX and “KPop Demon Hunters” feel so poetic. When Netflix picked her as both the singing voice of Rumi and the co-writer of songs like “Golden,” “How It’s Done,” and “Your Idol,” it was like the universe rewrote the debut she never got.
When HUNTRIX Sang, It Was EJAE and Her Redemption Arc
Try asking everyone who’s watched “KPop Demon Hunters” and they’d agree that “Golden” is just phenomenal—if all those recognitions and PAKs didn’t speak loud enough. Every note of the song carries years of silence. It’s the kind of anthem you belt out when you’ve spent your whole life trying to be heard.
“I’m done hidin’, now I’m shinin’,” EJAE wrote—and it wasn’t just for Rumi. It was for herself.
During interviews with Rolling Stone and BBC, EJAE admitted she cried recording the demo. That emotion bleeds into her vocals, the kind that turns music into memory. Critics called her range “technically impressive and emotionally resonant,” but fans simply said, it felt real.
And there it is. This is the underlying reason why “Golden” hits differently. The song wasn’t just industry polish or empty healing messages. It came from the creator herself, EJAE, who once got rejected from K-pop due to her age—for who she really was at the time.
So now that “Golden” is topping charts with “KPop Demon Hunters,” it reminded us that the perfection K-pop often demands can sometimes mute its most powerful voices—just like EJAE.
The Irony of EJAE’s Success: Leaving Korea to Be Heard
EJAE’s story echoes a deeper truth about Korea’s entertainment structure. She had to leave Seoul, graduate from NYU, and find her freedom in New York’s creative chaos to become the voice of a Korean character that conquered Hollywood.
It’s the paradox fans keep noticing—K-pop’s most authentic stories are now being told abroad. And the woman singing them? A former trainee once told she didn’t fit the system.
That’s why EJAE has now redefined what success in K-pop actually means, with how “Golden” hitting Platinum and “KPop Demon Hunters” soundtrack sitting among Grammy contenders.
She showed what happens when talent is freed from age limits, aesthetic boxes, and approval gates. The same idol system that trained her may have built her strength, but the world outside Korea finally gave her wings.
EJAE & “KPop Demon Hunters”: The Era of Unseen Idols Has Begun
You may think that EJAE is just an exception—that her success with HUNTRIX, “Golden,” and “KPop Demon Hunters” is just…luck.
But no, this is just the beginning. With her success, EJAE is setting a new standard. She’s proving that K-pop spirit—all those years of discipline, storytelling, and heart—can find ways to thrive even beyond the company walls.
With every appearance, every time you see the names HUNTRIX, “Golden,” and “KPop Demon Hunters” on the charts, TV, and awards, this is the beginning of a new era of global K-pop.
This is the moment every hidden trainee, every backup vocalist, every uncredited composer has been waiting for. She’s started a new movement where artists aren’t not just debuting through agencies but through art itself.
And maybe that’s what this “Golden” era really means—the time when K-pop’s hidden voices finally step into the light, not as idols, but as creators.
EJAE, HUNTRIX, “KPop Demon Hunters” and the “Golden” Lesson for Fans
Finally, EJAE’s journey reminds every fan that K-pop’s real strength was never in its systems, but in the resilience of its people. Because sometimes, the truest idols aren’t the ones who debut on stage—they’re the ones who keep singing long after the spotlight fades.
Don’t you think so too? Did you feel that same tearjerking ache when you watched “KPop Demon Hunters”and heard EJAE’s voice? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
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