The hit song "Golden" from the animated American film "KPop Demon Hunters" has maintained its grip on the top spot of Billboard's Hot 100 chart for a fourth consecutive week. The track continues to outperform Alex Warren's "Ordinary," which has remained stuck at the No. 2 position for three weeks running.
"Golden" is performed by a trio of Korean American artists - Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami - who portray the fictional girl group Huntr/x in the Netflix animated film. The song's success represents a significant achievement for Korean representation in mainstream American music, particularly given that both Ejae, a composer who previously trained at the prestigious SM Entertainment, and Rei Ami were born in South Korea. Adding to the Korean connection, renowned producers Teddy and 24, who are well-known for their collaborations with major K-pop agency The Black Label, served as co-producers on the track.
The song's journey to the top has been nothing short of remarkable. After making its debut at a modest No. 81 position, "Golden" has steadily climbed the charts, progressing through No. 23, No. 6, No. 4, and No. 2 before finally reaching the coveted No. 1 spot. Although it briefly slipped back to No. 2, the track regained its dominance two weeks ago and has held strong ever since.
In terms of K-pop chart history, "Golden" has now achieved a significant milestone by surpassing BTS' "Dynamite," which held the No. 1 position for three weeks. This achievement places "Golden" in second place among K-pop genre songs with the most No. 1 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, trailing only behind BTS' massive hit "Butter," which dominated the charts for an impressive 10 weeks.
The Billboard Hot 100, which ranks the most popular songs across all genres in the United States, bases its calculations on a combination of streaming data, radio airplay metrics, and physical and digital sales figures. For the tracking week from August 29 to September 4, "Golden" demonstrated strong performance across all metrics, earning 34.5 million streams (representing a 2 percent decrease from the previous week), 22.1 million radio airplay audience impressions (showing a healthy 13 percent increase), and 9,000 copies sold (up 4 percent).
The success of "Golden" is part of a broader phenomenon surrounding the "KPop Demon Hunters" soundtrack, which has made unprecedented chart history. In addition to "Golden" at No. 1, three other songs from the soundtrack have secured positions in the top 10. "Your Idol" and "Soda Pop" each dropped one spot from their peak positions, now sitting at No. 4 and No. 5 respectively, while "How It's Done" maintains its strong position at No. 9.
According to Billboard, this remarkable achievement has made "KPop Demon Hunters" the first soundtrack in the chart's 67-year history to generate four simultaneous Hot 100 top 10 hits. This historic accomplishment underscores the growing influence of K-pop culture in American mainstream entertainment and demonstrates the soundtrack's exceptional appeal to American audiences across diverse musical tastes.
