The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week, for the upcoming Billboard Hot 100 dated Aug. 30, we look at the still-rising KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack and how many songs it might chart in the top 10 this week. 

HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & Rei Ami, “Golden” & “How It’s Done,” Saja Boys: Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo & samUIL Lee, “Your Idol” & Soda Pop” (Visva/Republic): Every week, the reach of KPop Demon Hunters expands a little more in the Billboard charts (and just about everywhere else). All but one of its nine Hot 100 entries — four from fictional girl group heroines HUNTR/X, two from their demonic cartoon adversaries the Saja Boys, one from characters Runi and Jinu, one from real-life K-pop stars TWICE and one from that group’s members JEONGYEON, JIYHO and CHAEYOUNG — continue to rise on the chart this week (dated Aug. 23). The lone exception is HUNTR/X’s “Golden,” which reached No. 1 the previous week, and which this week cedes the throne back to Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” the song it initially deposed. (Still, “Golden” gained in all of the chart’s metrics: streams, radio airplay and sales.)  

While that song slips to No. 2, it is joined in the top five for the first time by Saja Boys’ “Your Idol,” which leaps from No. 8 to No. 4. And slightly lower on the chart, KPop Demon Hunters welcomes a third soundtrack hit to the top 10: “Soda Pop,” also from Saja Boys, which jumps 14-10 on this week’s listing. Both songs owe most of their still-rising success to steady streaming growth, but are also now bubbling under on the Pop Airplay listing, with early radio support coming from iHeartMedia stations and SiriusXM’s Hits 1. 

Meanwhile, they may soon have even more company joining them in the chart’s top tier. HUNTR/X’s “How It’s Done” has been lingering around the lower stretches of the top 20 the past couple weeks, and this frame it scales  19-14, while also picking up airplay from the same early supporters as “Pop” and “Idol.” In the next week or two, it could jump into the top 10, giving the soundtrack four such hits in the region — something no soundtrack has achieved since Waiting to Exhale nearly 30 years ago.  

Exhale also stands as the lone soundtrack with five top 10 hits to its credit — but if Demon Hunters continues its forward momentum in coming weeks, it’s not inconceivable it could have that record in its sights, as well. While none of the other songs from the soundtrack have yet reached the top 20, three are still moving up in the top 30: HUNTR/X’s “What It Sounds Like” (25-24) and “Takedown” (29-26), and Rumi (EJAE) & Jinu’s (Andrew Choi) “Free” (27-25). 

And before then, “Golden” could very well take back No. 1 as soon as next week. The song continues to rise across the board — particularly on radio, where the song still has the most ground to gain. It’s starting to do exactly that, up another 27% in airplay audience Aug. 15-18, according to Luminate, and now aiming for a debut on the 50-position Radio Songs chart, while also still climbing the Pop Airplay top 20. Multiple versions of the song are also still sale-priced to 69 cents in the iTunes Store, which should help it continue to sell well, as it moves from No. 3-2 on Digital Song Sales this week.  

Alex Warren, “Ordinary” (Atlantic): While “Ordinary” should remain a strong contender for the Hot 100’s top spot for the foreseeable future, it may take a bit of a hit next week. The bump it received last week from Warren’s live duet version of the song with country superstar Luke Combs — initially performed at July’s Lollapalooza festival in July, then released to DSPs on Aug. 7 — will inevitably recede some before next week, as “Golden” continues to shine brighter and brighter. But “Ordinary” should still hold atop Radio Songs for a 10th week (despite a narrow decrease in airplay through the first four days of this tracking week), and its own continued discounting on iTunes shows Warren and his team aren’t conceding the fight for next week just yet.