Next Big Thing In The K-Pop Industry: Stray Kids Are ‘Shaking the Industry, Quaking Reality, and Making It Iconic’

Stray Kids are breaking records everywhere — proving that they are a force to be reckoned with.

Often known as SKZ, it is a South Korean boy band founded by JYP Entertainment in 2017 as a result of the reality program of the same name. 

Bang Chan (Bahng Christopher Chahn), Lee Know (Lee Min Ho), Changbin (Seo Changbin), Hyunjin (Hwang Hyunjin), Han (Han Jisung), Felix (Lee Felix Yongbok), Seungmin (Kim Seungmin), and I.N (Yang Jeong In) are the group’s eight members. 

Originally a nine-piece ensemble, former member Woojin (Kim Woojin) quit in October 2019 for unspecified personal reasons.

On June 2, 2023, Stray Kids released their third studio album, 5-Star. The album has broken many records even before its release.

Stray Kids’ ‘5-Star’ broke many records

Stray Kids are no strangers to breaking records. However, their latest album is doing the most, becoming the top in the K-Pop industry.

On May 30, 2023, two days before the album was released, JYP Entertainment said 5-Star had received 4.93 million pre-orders. Two days later, the numbers changed to 5.13 million.

5-Star is the only album in the history of K-Pop to cross the 5 million mark for pre-orders. It became the most pre-ordered release in K-pop history, shattering the previous record of 4.64 million copies set by Seventeen’s 2023 album FML.

‘5-STAR’ by has surpassed 5.13M preorders. They are the first Korean act in history to surpass this milestone. pic.twitter.com/sZSI0VOnC9

— Stray Kids Chart Data (@skzchartdata)

According to the Hanteo Chart, the album sold 2,392,666 copies on its first day of release. Similarly, it sold 4,617,499 in its first week, making it the fastest-selling first-week album in South Korea, once again surpassing Seventeen’s FML. 

Moreover, 5-Star opened at number one on the Circle Album Chart for the May 28 – June 3, 2023 edition, selling 4,330,039 copies in its two days of tracking.

Within a week of their album release, Stray Kids have already won two music show awards. On June 7, 2023, they won Show Champion, and on June 8, 2023, they stood first on the M Countdown.

Stray Kids are breaking records left and right with their new album, ‘5-Star.’ (Source: )

However, these are not the only awards 5-Star will win. Fans, who are called Stay, have speculated that the album will be winning ‘Daesang’ or Grand Prizes in various shows.

They have speculated this after comparing Stray Kids’ last mini-album, Maxident. 5-Star has doubled its first-week sales record of 2,163,349, which was set by Maxident.

Maxident was a triple-million seller and was deemed one of the best-selling albums in K-Pop history. Moreover, they won Best Album awards in music shows like the 37th Golden Disc Awards and the 12th Circle Chart Music Awards.

“5-STAR” is now the album by a 4th Generation Kpop artist with the highest 1st day sales in history (1.87M, still counting)! pic.twitter.com/LuaYjpL13h

— Stray Kids Chart Data (@skzchartdata)

Moreover, according to Forbes, Maxident was the fourth best-selling album worldwide, and Oddinary, another Stray Kids’ mini-album, was the eighth best-selling album in 2022.

So, looking at Stray Kids’ history, they are breaking their own records as well as in the K-Pop industry. 

Stray Kids’ discography

Stray Kids released their pre-debut extended play (EP) Mixtape in January 2018 before making their formal debut on March 25, 2018, with the EP I Am Not.

It was followed by the other two I Am series EPs, I Am Who and I Am You. Their Clé trilogy EPs, Clé 1: Miroh, Clé 2: Yellow Wood, and Clé: Levanter, were released in 2019. 

STRAY KIDS WORLD DOMINATION.
STRAY KIDS EVERYWHERE ALL AROUND THE WORLD. https://t.co/vEwNc4w3ewpic.twitter.com/lCJUQ5I7Tv

— ruby ! ⁴⁰⁴ (@dtksfavourite)

The group’s debut studio album, Go Live, was released in 2020 and was certified platinum by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA). Stray Kids also made their Japanese debut that year with the compilation album SKZ2020, released by Epic Records Japan.

Stray Kids’ second studio album, Noeasy, became their first million-selling record in 2021. After signing with Republic Records for US marketing in 2022, the group released the EPs Oddinary and Maxident, which landed them at the top of the US Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart for the first time. 

The KMCA recognized Maxident as having triple-million album sales, making them only the second group in Korean history to do so. Stray Kids has sold over 10 million records in combined Korean and Japanese versions as of October 2022.