Stray Kids

Stray Kids is a South Korean boy group formed by JYP Entertainment through the 2017 reality show Stray Kids. The final lineup debuted on March 25, 2018, with the EP I Am NOT and its lead single “District 9.” The group comprises Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N. Woojin, originally part of the nine member lineup, left in October 2019. Bang Chan, Changbin, and Han make up the in-house production team 3RACHA, a central force in the group’s songwriting and production. Before their official debut, the members performed material including “Hellevator,” released during the survival program. Their early I Am series continued with I Am WHO in 2018 and I Am YOU later that year. In 2019, Clé 1: Miroh gave them their first music-show win, on M Countdown, for “Miroh.” That album’s title invokes a maze, while “Miroh” combines the Korean word mi-ro, meaning maze, with an exclamation-like ending. The group followed the Clé sequence with Yellow Wood, Clé 2: Yellow Wood, and Clé: Levanter. In 2020, Stray Kids released the studio album Go Live, led by “God’s Menu,” whose cooking imagery and distinctive “du du du” refrain became a defining song. Its reissue, In Life, included “Back Door,” another title track built around an invitation to enter after a show. The group won the competition program Kingdom: Legendary War in 2021. They then issued Noeasy, featuring “Thunderous,” and Christmas EveL, whose title song presents a mischievous alternative to conventional holiday pop. Stray Kids expanded internationally through releases in Japanese and English as well as Korean. Their 2022 EP Oddinary entered the Billboard 200 at number one, making them the third Korean act to top that chart. Maxident, released later in 2022, also debuted at number one. In 2023, 5-Star became their third consecutive Billboard 200 chart-topper. The album included “S-Class,” which won Best K-Pop at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards. In 2024, the group released Ate, with the title track “Chk Chk Boom,” and headlined major festival appearances, including I-Days Milan and BST Hyde Park in London. Their official fan community is called Stay, a name introduced in 2018 and linked to the group’s wish that listeners remain beside them. Across their career, self-produced records and recurring concepts of escape, identity, and resilience have connected their releases with a recognizable catalog that spans Korean, Japanese, and English-language projects for many fans worldwide.