From left: Ed Sheeran, Raphael Saadiq, Michelle Zauner, Hayley Williams, Ejae and Shaboozey were photographed Nov. 15 at The Sun Rose West Hollywood. Photographed by Beau Grealy It's been four months since "Golden" and KPop Demon Hunters became a global phenomenon - sitting atop the charts for eight weeks and racking up more than a billion streams - and EJAE, the song's brainchild and main vocalist, still seems to be in disbelief that she's sharing a table with some of the biggest songwriters of a generation. "This is a happy accident," she says, flanked by Hayley Williams and Shaboozey as she recalls her winding path from aspiring K-pop idol to an unexpected sensation this year. "It's very interesting to be suddenly in the limelight again." Related Stories Movies How 'The Six Billion Dollar Man' Reframes the Saga of Julian Assange: 'THR Frontrunners' Q&A With Director Eugene Jarecki and Producer Kathleen Fournier Movies "I Didn't Know If I Could Find Him, But I Wanted to Look": 'THR Frontrunners' Q&A With 'Franz' Director Agnieszka Holland EJAE was one of six heavy-hitting Oscar hopefuls this season who took part in THR's annual Songwriters Roundtable. Over the course of more than an hour on a rainy November Saturday at The Sun Rose in West Hollywood, she was joined by Ed Sheeran ("Drive" and "Zoo" for F1: The Movie and Zootopia 2), Williams ("Open the Door" with personal hero David Byrne for The Twits), Raphael Saadiq ("I Lied to You" for Sinners), Shaboozey ("Took a Walk" for The Long Walk) and Japanese Breakfast's Michelle Zauner ("My Baby (Got Nothing at All)" for Materialists). The hitmakers went deep, opening up about the first songs they wrote, overcoming the pressure of crafting a follow-up hit, what makes a good children's song and the mysterious specter at one of New York's most famous recording studios that might have helped launch one of the biggest tracks of the year. Photographed by Beau Grealy How often do you think you have a hit these days? When's the last time you thought that, and were you right? ED SHEERAN I think it's 50/50. Most of the songs that I would end up putting out, I like. And when I make them, I go, "This could be a hit," but I don't know. I've been quite surprised. The biggest song in my set at the moment is a song I did for Pokémon four years ago that wasn't a hit at the time and then, unbeknownst to me, became a hit in Central Europe on radio. HAYLEY WILLIAMS What did it? SHEERAN I don't know. It's the end when you finish the Pokémon game. It didn't do anything so I never played it live. And then I was in Madrid this year and someone had a sign being like, "Play that song." I played it and it was the best reaction that night. So then I started playing it on tour and now it's the best song of the gig, but it never was a hit at all. MICHELLE ZAUNER I think everything I write is going to be a hit, and I'm greatly disappointed when it's not. (Laughs.) WILLIAMS I love that. Sheeran had two star-studded soundtrack collaborations, writing "Drive" with John Mayer (and recording it with Dave Grohl) and "Zoo" alongside Shakira. Photographed by Beau Grealy Ed, you had a couple of big collaborations with "Zoo" and "Drive." Let's start with "Drive." Tell me about writing with John Mayer. SHEERAN I met him when I was 23, he turned into a mentor of sorts. Every now and then I'll be like, "Can you play on a song?" So we were in the studio with Blake [Slatkin], whom we did the song with. Blake had been approached by Jerry [Bruckheimer] for F1 and all of us were like, "I don't really know what that would sound like," me singing a song for Formula 1, because I'm known as an acoustic guy. But John started off with that riff and then we just wrote it very quickly and sent it to them. They were like, thumbs-up, and then it was in the movie. And then on the other end there's Shakira and "Zoo." Completely different sonic profile. SHEERAN We got to know each other in the pandemic, weirdly. We had long phone calls about working together eventually, and we did bits and bobs back and forth. I recorded an updated version of "Hips Don't Lie" with her, which was quite fun. EJAE It was beautiful. SHEERAN [The movie] is called Zootropolis in the U.K., and my kids love it. [My daughter] is obviously Gazelle, and she said Gazelle needs a song. I was like, "Say no more," and Shakira and I wrote it. I've got a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old, so I watch a lot of kids' movies and feel like the best songs are all vowel-based, so that's why it's "Zoo-ooh-ooh." ZAUNER (Sings out "Baby Shark.") F1 and Zootopia 2 Courtesy of Apple; Courtesy of Disney I'm trying to think of that with "Golden." I wouldn't call it a kids' song, but kids love it. EJAE I think it's because of the melody. The kids love it and the dads love it. SHABOOZEY They're the ones putting it on. EJAE I saw a dad during Halloween who wore a [Demon Hunters] outfit. It was great. I love it when the dads wear the crop top when their hairy tummies are up a