It’s been stuck in your head for weeks — or probably will be soon: “We’re goin’ up, up, up, it’s our moment / You know together we’re glowin’ / Gonna be, gonna be golden.”
“Golden” is the hit single from the Netflix animated film “KPop Demon Hunters,” which has become one of the year’s pop culture touchstones. That’s thanks in part to its novel story — a K-pop girl group uses their music to fight demons disguised as a rival boy band — and a 12-song soundtrack full of tightly crafted, radio-ready bops like “Takedown” and “Soda Pop.”
They’re the type of soaring pop songs parents don’t mind hearing again (and again).
Since its June release, “KPop Demon Hunters” seemingly hits a new milestone each week. The film gave Netflix its first No. 1 at the box office on its way to becoming the company’s most-watched title ever.
And the singing voices of the main characters have started to become famous in their own right — including Rei Ami, 30, who grew up in Montgomery County and provides the singing voice of Zoey, a member of girl group Huntr/x.
Rei Ami’s profile is rising fast: She recently appeared on “Saturday Night Live” in a “KPop Demon Hunters” sketch and on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” where the University of Maryland alumna received a platinum plaque for “Golden.”
Last month, the single made Billboard history, becoming the longest-running No. 1 song on the Hot 100 by an animated group.
Rei Ami, alongside Huntr/x’s other vocalists, Audrey Nuna and Ejae, told Fallon about overhearing a young fan singing “Golden” in a grocery aisle in Los Angeles.
“I think it’s one thing to hear our song on the radio, but to hear it come out of a child live in H Mart?” she said. “I cried in H Mart.”
Rei Ami, whose real name is Sarah Lee, is now based in Los Angeles. She was not immediately available for an interview.
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The 2018 College Park graduate has been a singer and rapper for years, releasing her debut album, “Foil,” in June 2021. Rei Ami, who was born in South Korea and grew up in Germantown, was also featured on Sub Urban’s 2020 single “Freak,” which has nearly 300 million views on YouTube.
“I’ve always wanted to make music, but I just never thought it was a thing, because I knew nobody,” she said in a 2020 interview with The Diamondback.
Rei Ami told Billboard that she sees much of herself in the character Zoey.
“She’s a beast and a monster on stage, but ... she’s real sweet and bubbly and fun, and I think that’s my two sides,” she said.
This moment for Rei Ami and “KPop Demon Hunters” doesn’t look poised to end soon. In Hollywood, Oscars buzz is growing for the musical ahead of the March ceremony.

Before then, the Netflix hit is expected to inspire countless Halloween costumes. Don’t be surprised when your kids ask to dress up like Zoey and their other new favorite singers.
“It’s definitely refreshing and exciting to see the ‘it’ costume of the year, for people of all backgrounds, being a female Asian character,” a mother told NBC News.
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