After BABYMONSTER faced heavy criticism for their November 29, 2025, performance of “Golden” at the 2025 MAMA Awards, fans came armed with videos and receipts. The internet suddenly resurfaced interviews from EJAE, the original singer and composer of “Golden” for the movie KPop Demon Hunters. EJAE revealed that the song was never designed for a human singer in the first place. It was created for an animated character and intentionally pushed into unrealistically high territory.
BABYMONSTER fans shared two EJAE interviews: In the first one, the singer and songwriter confessed that if she had known she would end up singing it herself, she wouldn’t have made it that difficult. She explained that the extreme high notes were crafted to fit Rumi’s storyline, not a live stage in the real world. Another clip went viral where EJAE broke down the vocal concept. She said they purposely strained the character’s voice to make it sound like someone singing with a tone that wasn’t their natural one, as it reflected the struggle Rumi was going through in the story.
Armed with this context, fans MONSTIEZ used EJAE’s statements to defend Ahyeon and the other BABYMONSTER members. They pointed out that critics were judging the girls using standards the original composer and singers herself said were impossible. They argued that attempting a song crafted to be “non-human” was already brave enough. The conversation changed, with fans calling out the unfair scrutiny placed on young performers replicating a track that was specifically made for a movie moment.