Billboard Women in Music 2026 Women of the Year EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI — the singing voices of HUNTR/X from KPop Demon Hunters — sit down with Billboard to reflect on a record-breaking year. The trio talks about “Golden” surpassing 1 billion streams, becoming the most-watched Netflix movie in history, and what it means to make history as Asian-American women in the music industry.
From their very first rehearsal ahead of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to Lana Del Rey singing “Golden” at the Clive Davis Grammy party, the girls open up about imposter syndrome, immigrant roots, the power of representation, and why femininity is anything but delicate.
AUDREY NUNA:
The Women of the Year thing, like, I immediately just think about all the women who have come before us and have paved the road. Exactly. You know? Obviously in the music industry, but also like our ancestry and our lineage and, like the women who had to deal with so much bullsh– for us to be able to sit here today while my leg is falling asleep, you know? That is so. . . That’s everything to us.
EJAE:
To be recognized is incredibly awesome, especially as an Asian-American woman. Definitely feel honored. You know, it really means a lot since, you know, growing up I would always look at the Billboard charts and see what songs are up and what songs are popular.
AUDREY NUNA:
It’s just been a really transformative experience to see this music affect so many people and see something that we’ve been a part of, that we’re blessed to be a part of, change peoples lives. That’s a really inspiring process. We’ve each been, you know, on our own journey in the music industry for so long. You eat sh– sometimes, you’re winning sometimes, you’re up and down. You don’t know what’s going on sometimes. And I think that this was such a moment of clarity for all three of us of like, yes, music has power to bring joy to the world.
REI AMI:
But I think it reaffirmed a lot of beliefs that I’ve held throughout my career, which is one, you really don’t know anything at all. The way this project has landed at this point, it is, I’m in awe, my jaw is on the ground. I cannot believe this is where we’re at.
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