EJAE Is the Most-Streamed K-Pop Artist in America

EJAE logged 2.1 billion on-demand streams in the United States in 2025. That is more than any other K-pop artist. It is also more than most people expected from someone who, a year ago, was primarily known for writing songs for other people. Kim Eun-jae (김은재) spent years in the background of the industry she is now topping.

The Numbers

According to Luminate data released on March 9, 2026, EJAE posted 2.1 billion combined audio and video on-demand streams in the US across all of 2025, ranking first among all K-pop acts. On-demand streams measure how many times users directly selected and played a specific song or video.

Second on the chart was HUNTR/X, the fictional girl group from the Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation film KPop Demon Hunters, with 1.8 billion streams. EJAE is the singing voice behind HUNTR/X's Rumi, meaning her output accounts for both the top two positions.

Stray Kids ranked third with 1.2 billion streams. The fictional KPop Demon Hunters boy band Saja Boys placed fifth at 921.1 million. BTS, preparing for a full-member comeback later this month, closed out the top ten with 892.3 million. Eight of the ten artists in the chart pull directly from the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack.

The Long Road Up

EJAE's numbers did not appear from nowhere. They were built on one of the most dominant animated properties of the year, but her path to the film went back decades. She began as a trainee at SM Entertainment in 2003 but never formally debuted as a group member or soloist. A graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, she eventually transitioned into songwriting and production.

Her early credits include co-writing the topline for Red Velvet's “Psycho,” which was certified gold in the US, and contributions to records by aespa, TWICE, and LE SSERAFIM. She was one of the most consistently credited writers in K-pop without ever being a face of it.

That changed with KPop Demon Hunters. She provided the singing voice for Rumi, the film's lead vocalist, with Arden Cho handling the character's speaking role. EJAE's group HUNTR/X, rounded out by Audrey Nuna and REI AMI, released “Golden” in July 2025. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned four Grammy nominations.

What It Means

The Luminate chart captures what the past several months have already confirmed. KPop Demon Hunters is not a film that had a hot opening and faded. It demolished Disney at the Annie Awards and has since earned the Criterion Collection treatment. The soundtrack remains in active rotation, which is why eight of the top ten K-pop streaming acts in America last year performed on it.

EJAE's 2025 was not a breakout moment. It was the result of two decades of work reaching its correct destination.