K-Pop Group of the Week: Stray Kids

Hello, everyone. I am thinking of starting a segment on here and it is called K-Pop group of the week. I know this isn't a new concept and it has been done a million times, but I don't know what else to call this segment at the moment so this is just what we're gonna go with for now. This will be the first installment of that segment and I will be talking about Stray Kids today as they have gathered more attention lately from when I started liking them, and, they have a comeback on July 19; so let's go.

Stray Kids is an 8 member Idol group from South Korea who debuted in 2018 on March 25, they are celebrating their 6th year this year. They debuted after Bang Chan hand picked all of them and went through their own elimination show run by JYP himself, Lee Know and Felix were eliminated and then, brought back into the group at the end. They were originally a 9 member group but became an 8 member group in 2020. We don't really know much about what happened, and fans have looked everywhere, there is almost no information about the incident. Anyway, they were originally a 9 member group consisting of Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Seungmin, Felix, I.N. and Woojin. In 2020 Woojin left the group and began a solo career (he is still making music and growing as an artist on his own so he's ok). When you ask fans about what happened the most theorized reason is that he and Bang Chan got into a fight which led to Woojin leaving the group. In the official statement from they agency, they stated that he left the group due to personal reasons, Later on, after he was released from Stray Kids, there were allegations that came out on X (formerly Twitter) about Woojin being involved in multiple incidents of sexual misconduct. He has since denied this and all accusations were dismissed as a harmful rumor. As stated above, they became an 8 member group in 2020 and that is how they are usually talked about today.

Fandom name: STAY

Fandom Community Name: STAYville

Next we're going to go over the members and main positions based on their most updated K-profile. I have also included information about the type of people they are, or at least from what I have personally seen as a fan from their Youtube content and concerts. Please be aware that some members might have more or less information based on what I know and what I have personally seen of the members and how open they are with STAY. I do not dislike any of them.

Bang Chan:

• Actual Name: Christopher Bahng
• Born in South Korea (But moved to Sydney Australia when he was VERY young) on October 3rd, 1997
• He has two siblings, his sister Hannah (Who has also debuted as an artist in Australia by her own power and she's amazing) and his brother Lucas
• He has a dog named Berry. She is an old lady and quite the famous dog
• Positions in Group: Leader and Producer, Singer, Dancer, Rapper
• He is 5'7" and is  ENF-J
• His SKZOO animal is a Wolf named Wolfchan
• Unit:3RACHA
• Instagram:  @gnabnahc

As mentioned above he is the Leader of Stray Kids and one of the best leaders (my personal opinion) of the 4th generation idols. He was a trainee for 7 years before he was given the go ahead to create an idol group that his entertainment company would examen and determine if they can debut. He is also part of their production unit 3RACHA with the two other members being Han and Changbin, 3RACHA has written and produced every single Stray Kids song since their Debut and they continue as the main producers and writers, however the other members have also began writing songs for the group in recent releases. He has many nicknames but the three main nicknames (personalities) that are most prominent in the fandom are Channie, Christopher, and Stray Kids Bang Chan. 

How to Identify The Different Bang Chans

• Bang Chan is Channie when he is acting cute, speaking from his heart to STAY giving them advice, any time he is embarrassed, when he looks "tiny" (I don't know how to explain Tiny to you. I recommend, if interested, looking up a compilation of Bang Chan being "tiny" to better understand what I mean) and talks about his day with you, when he cries after concerts, when he helps staff with carrying their belongings
• Bang Chan is Christopher when he is flirting with STAY. Now, you need to be aware and mentally prepared for his flirting, it really makes you delusional for a second believing you are actually in a para-social relationship with him and everyone else in the fandom. Chan's flirting comes in two flavors: Extremely suggestive and trying to be romantic but can also be corny. Just be prepared, it is quite the ride and you cannot leave once you're sucked into his delusion in that moment. 
• Bang Chan is Stray Kids Bang Chan when he is acting in his leader capacity, being formal and polite (not that he isn't normally, you just see it more pronounced in his professional settings), always taking head counts in the airport to make sure everyone is still together because Airport Stays (Especially in South Korea) can be concerning and when he is just being overall professional no matter what is going on around him while also staying aware of his surroundings to make sure all of the members and his staff are safe

Bang Chan usually appears to be very knowledgeable in many aspects of his life and he gives very good advice. He used to have a live every week or so called "Channie's Room" and it was probably one of he safest and soothing environments you could be in with him and essentially thousands of strangers. During Channie's room, he would play music, sing for us, spoil small segments of upcoming comeback songs; it was basically our weekly hangout with an idol. There would be episodes where the other members joined him for his live or just randomly show up and hangout with him for a little bit. You would just always feel heard in his lives even if he didn't directly answer one of your questions and then he would end all of his lives by hugging his camera giving us the most comforting virtual hug. The last live was the day before mother's day last year in 2023 and we have not had a Channie's room since. Not all is lost, however, most of them (not all) are on Youtube, if you're interested I highly recommend going to their official Youtube page and watching an episode or two; I can guarantee you will always find something you can relate to or a piece of advice you needed to hear when you watch them. 

Lee Know:

• Actual Name: Lee Min Ho
• Born in Gimpo, South Korea on October 25, 1998
• He is an only child
• He is the cat butler to his 3 cats Sooni, Doongi and Dori
• Positions in Group: Dance Leader (Main Dancer), Vocalist, Rapper
• He is 5'7.5" and is ISFP
• His SKZOO animal is a rabbit named LeeBit (He is an evil little bunny)
• Unit: DanceRacha
• Instagram:  @t.leeknowsaurus

Lee Know is our resident devil bunny. When you look at him he can appear cold and aloft, but, he is actually quite the cinnamon roll. Lee Know loves to play pranks on and mess with the other members of the group. He is the "Mom" of the group (Bang Chan is the "Dad") and is very considerate to his members. He was a trainee for JYP entertainment for 1 year before debuting with Stray Kids. Lee Know has also been a back up dancer for BTS and has been dancing for a good portion of his life. He likes to have his alone time but appears to feel the most comfortable with Han. There is a running joke in the fandom about him cooking  "Hyunjin in an air fryer at 180 degrees for 20 minutes." the origin of this joke is that during their content, I believe it was on of their SKZ Vlogs (but I could be wrong) Hyunjin had annoyed Lee Know so much that day that his punishment was cooking Hyunjin in the air fryer. No, this did not ever happen, yes it was a joke, everyone just refers to it jokingly in the fandom now and it's great. Lee Know is the group cat and he does really act like a cat sometimes, even though is representative animal is a rabbit. There are times where he messes with things like a cat would. One of the most recent occurrences of this was during their variety show "SKZ Code" episode 53 where the concept was becoming Felix's (Police Chief in this concept) right hand man and they earned this by a series of games and one of the games was shooting a target through prison bars and the person with the most hits wins that round. During this shooting game, Lee Know had gotten, I think two or three, points but that last few he had to hit, he kept missing which resulted in him being "put behind bars" and when he was in the jail cell he literally batted the targets down like a cat would a ball of yarn and this is just one example, there are plenty others. He was also one of the MCs for a music show called "Music Core" in South Korea for two years and just recently retired from the position on October 6th 2023. He would always have lives with us after his shows in his car on the way home from the show and those were always fun and you saw him in all is devil bunny (mischievous) glory in those lives.

Changbin:

• Actual Name: Seo Chang Bin
• Born in Yongin, South Korea on August 11, 1999
• He has an older sister
• He does not have any pets that we know about (or at least me)
• Positions in Group: Producer, Main Rapper, Vocalist
• He is 5'6" and is ESFP
• Unit: 3RACHA
• His SKZOO animal: Pabbit (Pig + Rabbit) named Dwaeki
• Instagram: @jutdwae

Changbin is the 3rd oldest member of Stray Kids and is the second person in 3RACHA who is the producing unit for Stray Kids. Out of all of the members in the group he is the one who goes to the gym the most because he genuinely enjoys being healthy and going to the gym. For a while he was part of an ad campaign with Samsung in South Korea that was very successful that he produced to songs for "Sky High" and "Respect" which encouraged teenagers to follow their dreams but always be respectful to others and they are really good songs. Even though he is listed a a main rapper he also has very clear vocals and when he sings it is really pretty. He was a trainee for 2 years at JYP before debuting with Stray Kids and he originally auditioned to be a vocalist but his rapping was his stronger asset at the time. He continues to grow his vocals and he has come a long way. He is the loudest member of the group and has one of the most infectious laughs you will ever hear and loves acting cute, even though you wouldn't think so based on his outside appearance. He is a secret guardian to the other members and is the voice of reason in the group. He hasn't done a lot of solo projects, but I hope he gets a chance to soon if he wants to explore something like that. 

Hyunjin:

• Actual name: Hwang Hyun Jin
• Born in Seoul, Korea on March 20th, 2000
• He is also an only child
• He has a dog name Kami who appears to love everyone else in the group more than him (he has said this in his vlogs/lives)
• Positions in Group: Visual, Dancer, Rapper, Vocalist
• He is 5'10.5" and is ESTP
• Unit: DanceRacha
• His SKZOO animal: Ferret named Jiniret
• Instagram: @hynjinnnn

Hwang Hyunjin, we have to love our resident drama king. I don't mean this in a bad way but the way he reacts to the other members and the amount of side eye that he gives them, the amount of "judging" he does, rightfully gives him this title. He is also considered the "Prince" of the group and, as mentioned, above, the visual of the group. If you look at any of his pictures that he takes for events, concerts, even his own selfies, you really lose your breath looking at him and it is one of the craziest things I have ever experienced, but it's hard not to react to him like that. But, his looks are not the only thing he is, he is also really funny and so genuine with STAY. In all of his lives he's always messing with filters, messing around with STAY, talking about his paintings and just going with the flow of life. He is also a very good artist (painter) and has also produced a few songs for Stray Kids. He is the global ambassador for Versace and it was officially announced last July on the 20th. He was a trainee for JYP for two years before debuting with Stray Kids. He also has a handful of solo songs such as "ice.cream," "miss you" "hey you" and "long for you," these are all love songs. Another solo song of his that was performed during their last tour is called "Mic & Brush" that had a very Noir, Jazzy vibe, but it has not been released on Youtube or any of their albums. Hyunjin loves playing around with the members, but isn't a prankster like Lee Know and his facial expressions are always on point. Hyunjin is an old soul alive in the modern age and he makes sure that you are aware of this as he always has a type of elegance around him that can't be described any other way and is also a very fluid dancer. He would be a very successful model or painter if he ever decided to stop being an idol. 

Han:

• Actual Name: Han Ji Sung
• Born in Incheon, South Korea on September 14th, 2000
• He has an older brother
• He has a dog name Bbama
• Positions in Group: Rapper, Producer, Vocalist
• He is 5'6" and is ISTP
• Unit: 3RACHA
• His SKZOO animal: Quokka named HanQuokka
• Instagram: @_doolsetnet

We have now arrived at the first Sunshine Twin of Stray Kids and final member of 3RACHA, Han Ji Sung. He is our resident baby girl that everyone just always wants to protect. He gets along with the other members beautifully but he seems the most comfortable with Lee Know and Felix. Han has written most of  the songs for Stray Kids and he has said that, if he wasn't a part of Stray Kids he would have been a producer. He is the main all-rounder of the group and wanted to be a singer to tell his story through music. When auditioning for JYP he did not think he would get in, but he passed the audition, and then was a trainee for 3 years before debuting with Stray Kids. Han loves to eat food and watch movies and is a home body whenever he has time off of his busy schedule. Han is not very athletic or very good at sports. He plays guitar and has a very humble personality, despite all of their success. Out of all of the members, Han has also released the most SKZ-Replays (these are songs on their Youtube that are released by the members but a lot of them are just on Youtube, some make the albums.) Han has released solo songs like "Volcano," "Run," "Alien," "Miserable," and "I Got It." He has also released duos on their Youtube with Seungmin and Lee Know. He doesn't go live very often, but when he does, he is very calm and humble and the way he talks about the songs he releases you can really tell that he comes from a place of experience. When he leads recordings, he always knows exactly how he wants the song to sound and is very good at describing that notion to whoever is recording. He is Bang Chan's "first child" he was the first person Bang Chan picked to be a part of Stray Kids/3RACHA and their relationship reflects as such. He's very easy going and has a very soothing singing voice and when he raps, the amount of attitude he puts into his rapping is astonishing. 

Felix:

• Birth name: Felix Lee
• Korean Name: Lee Yong Bok
• Born in Seven Hills in Sydney Australia and his parents are Korean
• He has two sisters, one is older and the other is younger, he is the middle child.
• He does not have any pets that I am aware of
• Positions in Group: Dancer, Rapper, Vocalist
• He is 5'7" and is ESFJ
• Unit: DanceRacha
• His SKZOO animal is a chick named Bbokari
• Instagram: @yong.lixx

This is the final member of the DanceRacha unit in the group and is the second Sunshine Twin of Stray Kids. Both Felix and Han are called the "Sunshine Twins" because they are always positive and always smiling and making everyone laugh by being silly and just going through life as it presents itself to them. Felix has the deepest voice of the group and what usually gets people into Stray Kids (or at least leads them to be more curious about their music) is called the "Felix Effect." What is the "Felix Effect" you ask, well let me tell you. The "Felix Effect" is the shocking effect of hearing his voice and realizing that the voice is coming from a man who looks like a fairy, meaning he is very pretty and cute, but has the voice of a demon. Felix is also called "Our Little Fairy" in the Fandom because of how he looks and just the amount of positivity that he radiates that makes you feel so much better and happier whenever he enters the room and smiles at you. He basically looks like a Fae Realm character out of a fantasy novel/MMORPG. Felix loves to bake and his brownies are famous. He is always baking sweets and loves sharing them with everyone as he always makes sure to make enough to be able to be able to share with everyone. He isn't very good at cooking fish cakes though, so don't ever expect him to make any. He is also the resident massage therapist, as one of the ways he expresses his love for his members is physical touch, he usually goes around giving massages to the members if he feels like they need it. Felix also really like giving hugs and doing ASMR. He is the global ambassador for Louis Vuitton and made his modeling runway debut in March of 2024 in Paris at the Louis Vuitton FW24 show. 

Seungmin:

• Actual Name: Kim Seung Min
• Born in Seoul, South Korea on September 22nd, 2000
• He has one older sister
• He does not have any pets that I am aware of
• Position in Group: Main Vocalist
• He is 5'10" and is ISFJ
• Unit:VocalRacha
• His SKZOO animal is a dog name Puppy M
• Instagram:  @miniverse.___

Seungmin is our ever mischievous puppy. Out of all of the members, Seungmin is the most mischievous and savage person ever. When it comes to Seungmin, he has a comeback for everything and when it comes to hitting someone right where it hurts, you can count on Seungmin to tell it to you like it is and he does not hold back. He is a really sweet guy though and has one of the most playful personalities I have ever seen in a person, literally like the biggest human embodiment of a golden retriever if there ever was one. He was a JYP trainee for a year and learned English by studying it for 3 months in LA. Seungmin is also our angel of music, quite literally. His vocals are so pure and portray emotion extremely well, listening to him sing can sometimes be an out of body experience. He actually wanted to be a rapper when he auditioned for JYP but due to his vocals he became the main vocalist instead at debut and maintains that position, even as everyone else improves their vocals. Seungmin is our OST king for K-Dramas, when you listen to his voice you will understand why. He has done the OST Songs for "Hometown Cha Cha Cha," "Love in Contract," "The Midnight Studio," and his most recent one was an anime OST for the Anime "I'm the Queen in This Life."  Seungmin has recently launched a series on the Stray Kids official YouTube channel called "Song By." This show is a little segment that he releases where he chooses a song, talks about it and then ends the show with performing that song live and the episodes are about 10-20 minutes long. Unfortunately at the time of writing this post, he has only released 2 full episodes and the show trailer.

I.N.:

• Actual Name: Yang Jeong In 
• Born in Busan, South Korea on February 8th 2001
• He has and older brother and younger brother
• He does not have any pets that I am aware of
• Position in Group: Vocalist
• He is 5'7.5 and is INFJ
• Unit:VocalRacha
• His SKZOO animal is a fennec fox name FoxI.NY
• Instagram: @i.2.n.8

We have reached our final member, our Maknae (youngest member), I.N. Even though he is the youngest, his mannerisms making him seem much older and I believe it might have something to do with where he's from. I.N. does not like physical touch but will tolerate it at times if it is his members and still only once in a while. The other members have said that they are afraid of I.N. because he is very direct and firm in the way he speaks when he is trying to make a point. He was a trainee for JYP for three years before he debuted with Stray Kids. I.N. has a very distinct vocal tone that can lean more on the nasal side but is also a very rich, full tone. He is more alto range but can sing high notes if need be and I personally feel like he needs to get some more singing parts, the amount of parts and duration have increased in the past two or so comebacks so it's not as bad as it used to be. I.N. has a very sly/clever personality and mostly keeps to himself and he doesn't do a lot of solo projects which I feel he should be provided more opportunities, if he has the time to and it is something that he wants. He is usually seen wearing mostly Alexander McQueen clothes and he did recently complete a solo event where he attended a fashion show for Alexander McQueen. Us here in Stayville ] are still biding our time waiting for them to make an official ambassador announcement. 

That was a lot of information I know, but it was the best I could do to be able to talk about all of them. If you noticed, each member is listed as part of a "Unit" which is a sub-component of the group. Each unit, or in Stray Kids' Case, "RACHAS," are responsible for certain things in the group related to their sub-units. The unit system allows for a combining of talents for a variety of songs and concepts and they are usually added to unit based on their proficiency in that unit. Stray Kids has 3 sub-units dividing the 8 members: 3RACHA, DanceRacha and VocalRacha. 

• 3RACHA: The main producing unit of the group consisting of Bang Chan, Changbin and Han. 3RACHA is credited for all of Stray Kids's music. They were also previously a pre-debut group under JYP where they released a few songs but it did not go much further than that. Out of all of the songs that have been written by 3Racha, as of November 8. 2023, Bang Chan is credited with writing and producing 168 songs, followed by Changbin with 143 songs and Han with 140 songs. Even though 3RACHA still remain as the main producers and song writers, the other members have also written songs, or assisted 3RACHA on songs. 
• DanceRacha: The main dance leaders of the group consisting of Lee Know, Hyunjin and Felix. DanceRacha is in charge of choreography and assisting their choreography instructors with teaching the other members of the group and they are in charge of group practices when they do not have a choreographer present.
• VocalRacha: The main group in leading vocals consisting of Seungmin and I.N. They are the main vocalists of the group and are able to assist the other members in learning their singing parts and teaching them  how to stay on pitch. 

To close out this post I have also included their discography. Stray Kids, as of  May 13th, 2024, they have released a total of 29 albums with 30 on the way with "Ate" that comes out on July 19, 2024. I have listed them in order from the oldest to the most recent.

1. Mixtape (Pre-Debut EP) - January 8th, 2018
2. I am NOT (Debut Album) - March 26, 2018
3. I am WHO - August 6, 2018
4. I am YOU - October 22, 2018
5. Cle 1: MIROH - March 25, 2019
6. Cle 2: Yellow Wood - July 19, 2019
7. 어쩌다 발견한 하루 (Extraordinary You) OST Part 7 (OST Single Album) - November 7. 2019
8. Cle: LEVANTER - December 9 2019
9. Step Out of Cle (First English Release) - January 24, 2020
10. SKZ2020 (First Album as 8) - March 18, 2020
11. TOP - May 26, 2020
12. GO生 - June 12, 2020
13. 만찢남녀 (POP OUT BOY!) Part.1 - July 16, 2020
14. IN生 - September 14, 2020
15. ALL IN - November 4, 2020
16. NOEASY - August 23, 2021
17. Scars / ソリクン (Thunderous) -Japanese ver.- October 13, 2021
18. Christmas EveL - November 29, 2021
19. SKZ2021 - December 23,2021
20. ODDINARY - March 18, 2022
21. CIRCUS - June 22, 2022
22. MAXIDENT - October 7, 2022
23. SKZ-REPLAY - December 21, 2022
24. THE SOUND - February 22, 2023 

25. ★★★★★ (5-STAR) - June 2, 2023

26. Social Path / Super Bowl -Japanese version -September 6, 2023
27. 樂-STAR (ROCKSTAR) - November 10, 2023
28. Lose My Breath - May 10, 2024
29. Lose My Breath (REMIXES) - May 13, 2024

   Well, that's all for K-Pop Group of the week. I hope this was informative and I hope the incorporating of most of their information in one location helps you, I know it would have helped me when I first got into them. Thank for everyone who read through the whole post, you are the greatest. 

PEACE!