Audrey Nuna is a real-life K-Pop Demon Hunter

Audrey Nuna is two of the most streamed artists on Earth right now. Yes, you read that right: there’s herself, Korean-American singer-rapper born and raised in Manalapan, New Jersey, and then there’s Mira, one third of K-Pop Demon Hunters’ fictional idol group Huntr/x, for whom Nuna provided the singing voice. Now standing as the most-streamed Netflix film of all time, and spawning a platinum-certified soundtrack album, K-Pop Demon Hunters has catapulted Nuna to new heights, but this success certainly didn’t come out of thin air.

Indeed, Nuna’s resolve to be an independent artist goes all the way back to a missed Broadway audition as an early tween. “I was going into the city for a callback to a professional theatre show and, because my dad was trying to save a bit of money, he got me a kids ticket even though I was one or two years over the age limit,” Nuna tells Dazed. “Right before we got on the highway, the driver stopped the bus and had the police escort me home because children aren’t allowed to cross state lines on their own. I was so pissed at my dad for wanting to save that $3.”

She continues: “Growing up I’d gone to so many auditions where I felt the need to be accepted, but that day was a turning point. I thought, ‘Fuck this shit, I don’t want to bow to the approval of these casting directors, I want to make my own music.’ From there I started writing my own songs, and, when I was 16, doing covers on Instagram. It’s just been a neverending trip ever since.”

It was on Instagram that Nuna met her first producer and lifelong friend, Anwar, who introduced her to soul via Sade, and hip-hop via A Tribe Called Quest, and together they began carving what would become Nuna’s signature pop-rap sound. Listening to her first breakthrough single, “Comic Sans feat. Jack Harlow”, released in 2021, it’s easy to spot similarities with the fictional Mira that Nuna would later embody. There’s a ferocity to Nuna’s tightly knit rap verses on the track, but also colourful pop production that betrays a desire to transcend genre entirely.

“I remember crying in the back of that police car somewhere in Old Bridge, New Jersey,” says Nuna, returning to the fateful day she missed her Broadway audition. “But, looking back, I don’t think a young Korean-American girl like me would’ve been considered a role in that space at that time.” Beneath all the records, it’s for this reason that K-Pop Demon Hunters’ success is so significant, providing much-needed validation for young Asians and Asian-Americans like Nuna and fellow Huntr/x co-stars Ejae and Rei Ami who didn’t feel represented in popular media growing up.

“[The film] is so connected to my mission as an artist,” Nuna explains. “As someone who was a fellow outsider, I would love to empower others who feel that way, and contribute to a more empathetic and less binary-thinking world.” Suffice to say, Audrey Nuna was rapping for the greater good long before K-Pop Demon Hunters ever hit Netflix.

Below, Audrey Nuna calls in from Brazil to tell Dazed about her upcoming album, why she thinks Crazy Rich Asians was a ‘big turning point’ in popular media, and her similarities with Huntr/x’s Mira. Catch Max Heilbronn’s exclusive photoshoot with Nuna above.

Hey Audrey! You’re in Brazil right now, what’s the occasion?

Audrey Nuna: I’m here exploring music, meeting musicians and working on my next album. My manager is from here, and she knows an amazing studio in Minas Gerais. It’s obviously been the craziest year ever, but I feel so inspired and am having a good time.

You mentioned that you didn’t think a young Korean girl wouldn’t have been considered for a role in Broadway when you were growing up, but things have obviously changed quite a bit now. Why do you think that is?

Audrey Nuna: Yeah, it’s pretty crazy. At one point, I was so used to being counted out. Honestly, I think a big turning point was Crazy Rich Asians, as funny as that is. I remember going to the theater with all my Korean friends and people from church, and we all like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ I’d never seen so many Asian people on the screen at a movie theatre. At this point, it’s becoming more normal. Now, with this filming that I’m part of, it feels even more surreal to not just be charting, but also take number one slots. It’s a dream for my seven-year-old self who grew up in a very non-diverse suburb of New Jersey.

A big turning point in your own career came when your producer, Anwar, reached out over Instagram, right?

Audrey Nuna: Yeah, he slid into my DMs like a creepy old man! This was pre the era of Instagram meetups being normal, and he messaged me like, ‘I love your voice, I would love to meet you.’ I think it was my cover of “Redbone” by Childish Gambino that I filmed fully clothed in a bath tub – it was just the best acoustics. At first, I was really freaked out, I was 17 at the time, and so I took my brother and my mum to go meet up with him for the first time. We made an incredible song the very first time we met, and we’ve just continued our creative relationship from that point on. That’s my homie.

From my end, “Comic Sans feat. Jack Harlow” was your first big breakthrough moment. How do you feel looking back on that time?

Audrey Nuna: I think that’s still some of the purest stuff that I’ve made, that whole era was me discovering how to make music. That’s always been the North Star – I want my intention to be what it was at that time, when I was just doing [music] because it was fun. I didn’t really have a career then, so it’s the level of freedom that I always want to protect. I honestly feel more connected to that era than ever before.

That track very much existed within the American rap sphere. Did it feel weird transitioning into the K-Pop world with K-Pop Demon Hunters?

Audrey Nuna: It’s cool to know you knew the music beforehand, because that gives you insight into the trajectory. People always ask me, ‘Is it weird to switch genres?’, but I don’t feel like I’m switching genres. I just feel like I’ve lent my voice to embody a role and a character that I care deeply about. [The film] is so connected to my mission as an artist, so it doesn’t feel like I’m putting on a different skin or anything. [This film] transcends genre in that sense, it speaks to world change. It’s really serendipitous.

“Mira has a really tough exterior, and I can relate to that. It's a defence mechanism to a world that doesn’t accept you.”

What similarities are there between you and Huntr/x’s Mira, then?

Audrey Nuna: Well, my favourite colour is pink and her hair is pink, so you gotta start there. I think she has a really tough exterior, and I can relate to that. I think it’s a defense mechanism to a world that doesn’t accept you. I also really relate with the deep sense of empathy that she has, which I honestly think is her truest superpower. Also, she’s swaggy and stylist, so I relate to that.

Would you go to the Met Gala in a sleeping bag, like Mira did?

Audrey Nuna: I actually wore a sleeping bag-type-thing to the VMAs, so I guess the answer is yes! I don’t think I would redo it for the Met Gala, but maybe I’ll wear my pyjamas instead.