If you’ve been paying any attention to the Billboard charts the past couple weeks, you’ve undoubtedly noticed the chart onslaught of two brand-new groups: HUNTR/X and Saja Boys, who now have a combined six Billboard Hot 100 entries (and a top 40 hit each).
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If you’re wondering why you’d never heard of either before a couple weeks ago, it’s because they didn’t exist prior to that — and in some ways technically still don’t, as both are inventions of the hit animated Netflix musical KPop Demon Hunters. Despite their fictional nature, both groups are having real-life breakout success befitting their in-universe superstardom — to the point where they’re racking up chart achievements that many of the biggest flesh-and-bone K-pop icons have yet to add to their resumés.
On this first-ever Fictional Pop Star Review on the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard Assistant Social Editor and K-pop superfan Abby Webster to talk about all things HUNTR/X and Saja Boys — what about the girl group and boy band feels authentic, what reminds us of other real-life K-pop idol groups and what maybe stretches credibility a little. We also talk about what has made KPop Demon Hunters into such a runaway phenomenon, and how much bigger it still could get from here.
Along the way, we discuss all the most important questions: Why has KPop Demon Hunters been the first musical since Encanto to have such chart-blanketing impact? How many members is too few for a plausible 2025 K-pop group? Is it weird that the HUNTR/X version of “Takedown” is actually outstreaming the cover done by the established real-life K-pop superstars on the soundtrack? And could a HUNTR/X and Saja Boys tour ever actually happen in real life — and would we go see it if it did?
Check it out above — along with two Abby-assembled Spotify playlists, one helping new-to-K-pop Demon Hunters fans find their footing within the genre, and also looking at some of the real-life genre hits echoed by the movie’s fictional jams. And please subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for weekly discussions every Thursday about all things related to pop stardom!
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