EJAE's Rant Warns the "Golden" Victory of KPop Demon Hunters at the Academy Awards

EJAE (Instagram @ejae_k)

JAKARTA - In the latest Academy Awards, the song "Golden" from the KPop film Demon Hunters was crowned the winner of the Best Original Song category.

This victory is an anomaly because "Golden" is the first K-Pop song to bring home the Oscar trophy - beating the works of a row of famous composers such as Diane Warren to Nick Cave.

The moment of tears broke out when EJAE, the singer behind the character Rumi and one of the songwriters, took to the stage. While sobbing, EJAE revealed how difficult the journey he had taken was before finally being recognized by the most prestigious film industry in the world.

For EJAE, this victory is a form of validation of his identity and long struggle as a Korean-blooded musician who was once in doubt.

"Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-Pop, but now everyone is singing our songs and all the Korean lyrics," EJAE said, quoted by Variety, Tuesday, March 17.

"I'm very proud. This award is not about success. It's about resilience and I'm very grateful to our team," he added.

Behind the grandeur of the melody of "Golden", there is a deep past wound. EJAE said that the process of writing this song was a healing journey after he failed as a K-Pop trainee in his youth because his voice was considered not up to standard.

However, his collaboration with Mark Sonnenblick and the producers of The Black Label (Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Zhun) actually proved that uniqueness is his main strength.

"I was kicked out as a K-Pop trainee when I was a child and heard a lot of things about my singing voice, which was said to be 'too low or a little bad.' So, when writing these songs, I was very ashamed of being kicked out, and this film lets me embrace that side," said the singer-songwriter with the real name Kim Eun Jae.

"That's actually the superpower of the pain that I have, and the pain that I've been through helps me write these songs," he added.

The success of "Golden" completes the glory of KPop Demon Hunters who also won Best Animated Feature. The Sony Animation film, which aired on Netflix, successfully knocked down heavy competitors such as Zootopia 2 and Elio.

With this positive trend, Netflix has confirmed that the sequel to the film is in the development stage and is planned to be released in 2029.