Kevin Woo on Bringing ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ to Life at 2025 Jingle Ball, Signing With Atlantic Records’ 10K Projects

Trending on Billboard Despite the resounding success of its film and soundtrack, KPop Demon Hunters faced a tricky challenge since its breakout: translating a fantastical, animated musical world into the human reality of a concert stage. A longtime K-pop veteran as a member of boy band U-KISS and one of the voices for the Saja Boys , Kevin Woo found the answer was - and has always been - to keep showing up. After recording as Mystery Saja in KPop Demon Hunters ‘ supervillain singing sensation Saja Boys, the star experienced unprecedented chart feats (“Soda Pop” and “Your Idol” peaked within the top 5 during the same week on the Billboard Hot 100 ) and earned exponential spikes in streaming (his Spotify page currently boasts 21 million monthly listeners with 1 billion streams in 2025 alone). To close out 2025, the California native transformed his role in the viral film and soundtrack into accelerated career momentum, culminating in a new record deal and his most visible stateside moments yet. “After KPop Demon Hunters , I think my Spotify monthly listeners went from 10,000 to 2 million overnight,” he recalls backstage at the New York stop of iHeartRadio’s 2025 Jingle Ball tour. The attention turned into offers, but Woo says he was intentional about his next step. Drawing on a small but solid number of solo releases like 2021’s “Got It” (produced by Ariana Grande and XG collaborator Shintaro Yasuda) and “Deja Vu” from this year (crafted with go-to K-pop crossover creatives Aiden Lewis and Vanessa Jefferson), Kevin built a team with new manager Gary Marella of Mono Group Music, whose clientele includes Timbaland , Ron Fair and ATL Jacob. They met with prospective partners over several months and ultimately felt seen in a Los Angeles meeting with Atlantic Music Group’s 10K Projects. “The chemistry was there,” he said of meeting Elliot Grange, the label’s CEO, who brought his independent label under the Atlantic umbrella last year. “He already knew about me, which was so flattering. He was like, ‘Huge congratulations, you are killing it, and we want more voices and faces like you in our label.’ And he really understood diversity with music - he just gets it. And then in that moment, I just felt like it was the right move.” With nearly two decades of working in global entertainment, the connection “felt like a reward at the end of a lot of hard work that I put into my artistry and my craft.” After being discovered at age 15 and moving to South Korea for K-pop training, Woo debuted in the mid-2000s and ultimately stayed with boy band U-KISS for nine years, until 2017, when the band’s music releases slowed, and he began gaining traction in hosting and television roles. Beyond K-pop, he performed in musical theater across the globe, joining different musicals in Korea and making his Broadway debut in 2022’s KPOP , all while pursuing music in the States. KPop Demon Hunters isn’t even the only...

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