KPop Demon Hunters star auditioned with a "cheap $40 mic" and begged her manager to remove a challenging high note in Golden: "Tell them Rei cannot hit this note"

KPop Demon Hunters star Rei Ami says the role of Zoey's singing voice was the last one to fill, and she was "shocked" that it came down to her.

"With Zoey, the only description I got was that this person needs to be able to sing in Korean and English, but they need to be able to rap extremely fast," Ami explained to Variety. "I got the material, and it was different snippets of the songs. I recorded on a very cheap $40 mic. I don’t know what this movie is going to do, but it’s everything I love in terms of animation. It’s a Netflix film. It’s music, and it’s based in Korean culture. It’s everything that I am."

Ami provides the singing and rapping voice for Zoey, the main rapper and lyricist for Huntr/x, with Ji-young Yoo as her speaking voice. Prior to joining the cast of KPop Demon Hunters, Ami was perhaps best known for her feature on dark-pop artist Sub Urban's 2020 single "Freak" (which has a pretty cool circus-themed music video).

Continued Ami: "I said, 'OK, let me do this. Let me try.' And I recorded every segment except for the A5 (high note) in 'Golden.' I told my manager, Aaron Tropf, 'Tell them Rei cannot hit this note. She does not want to hit this note.'" The note was ultimately kept in, and the song would go on to hit the Billboard charts and receive four Grammy nominations, including Song of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, and Best Remixed Recording.

The hit animated Netflix film currently stands as the platform's most-watched original movie ever, hitting 537 million views as of January 2026 and still going. A sequel is, undoubtedly, on the way, though animated perfection takes time, and it likely won't arrive until 2029.

KPop Demon Hunters is streaming on Netflix now. For more, check out our guide to the best Netflix movies.