HUNTR/X before Grammy

The Grammys are on Sunday, which means pre-Grammy parties are happening, including Spotify’s 2026 Best New Artist Party, held in Los Angeles last night. I’ll leave deconstructing new music to MC, I don’t listen to the radio or whatever the kids are listening to these days. I discover new music through movies and TV, which means, of course, that HUNTR/X has been in heavy rotation since last summer, just as they’re everywhere right now.

EJAE, Rei Ami, and Audrey Nuna, aka singing ladies of HUNTR/X, were at the Spotify party last night:

As we continue chugging along to Oscar, KPop Demon Hunters and “Golden” remain the favorite for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, respectively. I know how Oscar voting works, and it serves you better mathematically to put all your energy behind one song rather than split your own vote by having multiple songs nominated, but I really love “What It Sounds Like”, I kinda like it more than “Golden”. I mean, “Golden” is a banger, it gets stuck in my head for days at a time, but thematically, “What It Sounds Like” hits so hard at the end of the movie. Also, I like the tri-part harmony on that song.

Anyway, before Oscar is Grammy, and KPDH and “Golden” is nominated for five Grammys, including Song of the Year and the movie soundtrack is nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media. I think “Golden” has a legit shot at Song of the Year. It was EVERYWHERE.

Also at the Spotify party was Sinners’ breakout star Miles Caton. Going back to my point about splitting votes, Sinners has three songs nominated in the Visual Media Song category at the Grammys, a category “Golden” is expected to win. All things being equal, the music from Sinners and KDPH is the best movie music of 2025, and they’re such disparate styles of music that comparing them head-to-head feels unfair and anti-art. But awards shows are about picking winners, and Sinners is splitting its own vote three ways. Not that I think they’d take down “Golden” because again, that song is inescapable and crossed over into a legit Hot 100 hit. It was the inescapable pop bop of 2025.