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AUDREY NUNA, EJAE & REI AMI, the singing voices of HUNTR/X from 'KPop Demon Hunters' Billboard Trending on Billboard Ejae, Rei Ami and Audrey Nuna are Billboard’s Women of the Year recipients, collecting the top honors at the Women in Music event with a powerful and emotionally-charged speech. Explore HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI See latest videos, charts and news The singers and songwriters are, of course, the singing voices for the fictional K-pop girl group HUNTR/X, the heroes of the 2025 Netflix animated musical film KPop Demon Hunters. Related Rosalía to Collect Prestigious Songwriting Award at The Ivors 2026 Rick Ross & French Montana Set to Face Off in 'Verzuz' Battle Duelo Talk Kicking Off Gravedad Tour Across the U.S.: 'Norteño Music Will Continue to Be a Core Part of Regional Mexican' Since KPop Demon Hunters hit our screen and devices, the trio has been smashing ceilings, busting records and collecting awards left and right. Along the way, the HUNTR/X hit made history as “Golden” collect best original song at the Academy Awards, marking the first time a K-pop song had won an Oscar. The song also won best pop duo/group performance at the Grammy Awards, the first time a K-pop number won a golden gramophone. On Wednesday night, the artists made history again at the WIM, hosted at the Hollywood Palladium. The road to the top, it hasn’t been easy. It’s been a journey of self-belief, rebounding and recalibration, and hard work. “Working in music is not easy,” Ejae remarks. “And as an Asian woman, the lack of representation was obvious to me. Growing up in the U.S., I rarely saw artists who look like me on Western stages. So I pursued becoming a K-pop idol. And when that didn’t work out, I thought I was done. But when I found songwriting, I realized that music isn’t music itself never questioned me. Because music doesn’t see race or gender. It only asks for the truth.” Grammy Award-winning British R&B artist Ella Mai was on hand to present the award, but not before Ejae, Rei Ami and Audrey Nuna performed their hit “Golden,” an addictive song that racked up eight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Read their WIM speech in full below. Ejae: Wow. Oh, my God, guys. Thank you, guys. Thank you, Billboard, for this incredible honor, and you just to be in this room with so many incredible women working across industry is the real honour here, obviously. Working in music is not easy. And as an Asian woman, the lack of representation was obvious to me. Growing up in the U.S., I rarely saw artists who look like me on Western stages. So I pursued becoming a K-pop idol. And when that didn’t work out, I thought I was done. But when I found songwriting, I realized that music itself never questioned me. Because music doesn’t see race or gender. It only asks for the truth. And when I bought my full truth into it, my voice, my wholeness, my women-ness, everythingbgan shift. I realised that as a woman, our power has never been in fitting in, but it’s now resilience to speak our truth. So I just want to say to every woman who may feel unseen, your voice is something to honor. Your story is not something to dilute, it’s something to amplify. And your identity is not a barrier, it’s your power. Because when we create without apology, take up space and lift each other up, we don’t just make music, we can change what it sounds like. I also like to acknowledge some of the amazing women behind KPop Demon Hunters. Of course, director Maggie Kang, Spring Aspers, Michelle Wong, Sunny Park, and so many others. Of course, these lovely, beautiful ladies, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami. I love you guys so much. It makes this journey super worth it, guys, seriously. And of course, our moms, our heroes, right? Rei Ami: Thank you for this incredible honour. I want to thank God, I want to thank my mom, these two incredible, beautiful women beside me. Thank you, Billboard. Thank you for Republic Records, my incredible team, family, friends, and fans. Being a woman in this male dominated industry is honestly ass sometimes. Uh, we have to work twice as hard, with a smile on our faces, as the world nitpicks every part of our being. First, we’re too skinny, and then we’re too fat. It goes from, “oh, she’s giving nothing” to “why is she being so extra?” It seems utterly impossible to exist. Oh, and God forbid you’re confident they’ll crucify you for that. But I think that’s why they’re so obsessed, because, well, there’s nothing more intimidating than a confident woman who knows what she wants. Our ability to persevere and show up is an absolute superpower. So, thank-you to all the women in this room for using your superpowers to inspire, lead, and protect. We are not too much. We are not too loud. We are exactly who the f— we think we are. Audrey Nuna: I’m very emotional tonight. I’ve been known to be the emotionally constipated one out of this group, and tonight, I really feel so much, so thank you so much, Billboard, for that. Thank you to my fellow Women in Music. It’s honestly an honor to just stand in this room. Women who bring leadership, light, boldness, excellence and change to our community. From when I first started releasing music back in 2019, to this moment now, I really never identified with the boxes that Korean-American women were expected to fit into. And quite frankly, I didn’t even know how to even begin to try to fit into those boxes. I mean, I’m literally wearing shoes that are boxing gloves right now. So to receive this honor and represent a song in a film that affirms its notion that the world needs women to show up as their fullest, most whole selves. Their weirdest selves, their smelliest selves. Whatever it is, it’s rewarding beyond words. They have never seen me cry in real life, so it’s not gonna happen today. I think we all grow up being fed ideas of what our role is supposed to be as a woman in this world. And something that navigating this industry in particular has shown me firsthand is that women are natural born leaders, and they are the best at it. Sorry, I’m just just gonna say it. And when women genuinely support one another from the heart, deep in their core, you know, I was fan grilling over Ella Langley earlier, ’cause that s— was f—ing amazing. Um, It is one of the most transformative, effective, and boundary-breaking forces in this world. And that being said, I want to dedicate this award to my team of visionary women. Paula Park was also being honored tonight. Truly, I could never do this without you. Love you so much. Thank you Nina Lee, Ashley Chu, Sarah Tehrani, Carolyn Massey, Mary Hannon, Grace Lee. Literally, my team is basically all women at this and it’s probably why I’m winning so hard. Thank you, Ejay. Thank you, Rei. You guys are my muses, and truly some of the pure souls I’ve ever met. Thank you to my mom. Thank you to my aunt. Who are here tonight. You guys show me what it means to be an empathetic, but also powerful woman. Thank you to the women execs who are constantly fighting for more equity, it really means a lot, and I love what Zara Larsson said about being the only woman in the room. You guys do that for us, and we see you, and we appreciate you. Our empathy is an asset, our humanness is a catalyst and portal for change. Thank you so much. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up Leave a Comment Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Name * Email * Website Post Comment Want to know what everyone in the music business is talking about? Get in the know on Visit Billboard Pro for music business news