The songwriter behind several songs featured in the popular new animated Netflix film “KPop Demon Hunters” warned about the sin of idol worship when she recently discussed the meaning of a popular song from the film.
“KPop Demon Hunters” has enjoyed wide popularity since its June 20 release, becoming the No. 1 movie on the Netflix Top 10 in the United States for several days last week and currently sits at the No. 2 spot, according to data from Flix Patrol.
Worldwide, “KPop Demon Hunters” is on the Netflix Top 10 list in 93 countries. It is the No. 1 movie on the Netflix Top 10 in 12 countries as of Monday: Australia, Denmark, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden and Thailand.
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The movie tells the story of a group of K-pop singers with secret identities as demon hunters who “protect their fans from an ever-present supernatural threat” and “face their biggest enemy yet — an irresistible rival boy band of demons in disguise.” The term K-pop is short for Korean popular music, a genre that originated in South Korea.
EJAE, a songwriter who served as the singing voice for one of the main characters in the film and wrote several of the songs featured in the movie, elaborated on her Christian upbringing and the meaning behind the song “Your Idol” in an interview with Forbes.
“Your Idol” is sung in the film by the demon boy band The Saja Boys and is “about the obsession of fans [because the Saja Boys] want them to be obsessed [to control them].”
“That sounds like what an Idol is,” EJAE, who has worked with several K-pop bands, said. “I was raised Christian and remembered it’s a sin to idolize something. So, it was like a twist of ‘I’ll be your Idol.’ It was kinda creepy.”
“Your Idol” was inspired by EXO’s songs “MAMA” and “Obsession,” she said.
The soundtrack that EJAE played a role in creating has also received a warm reception from the American public. As of Sunday, the film’s soundtrack has reached the No. 2 spot on the Billboard 200 Chart dated July 19. The full chart is scheduled for release on Tuesday.
EJAE also helped write and arrange the songs “The Huntrix Mantra,” “How It’s Done” and “Golden” for the movie. She said that she and her writing partner, Mark Sonnenblick, wrote the songs after being sent scene descriptions from the directors. THEBLACKLABLE created instrumental tracks and sent those to EJAE and other songwriters, who wrote the lyrics and melodies.
“[It was] a lot,” the songwriter was quoted as saying. “There were so many versions of [all the songs]. We had different songs that they scrapped or they’ll hold. I think for one of the songs, I’m not even kidding. I did [around] 57 demos.”
Common Sense Media, a project designed to help parents make informed decisions about what films to show their children, notes that the film is rated “PG” and includes “potentially unsettling scenes” that “show demons sucking up people’s souls and ‘disappearing’ them, and a demon king sending crowds of crawling, shadowy minions to eliminate enemies and take over the world.”
The film secured a score of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes’ “Tomatometer,” which reflects the views of 46 film critics, and a score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes’ “Popcornmeter” based on more than 2,500 audience member reviews of the movie as of Monday.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
