Cover Stray Kids' members Felix and Bang Chan teasing their collaboration with ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman (Photo: Instagram / @realstraykids)
Stray Kids' members Felix and Bang Chan teasing their collaboration with ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman (Photo: Instagram / @realstraykids)
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Recently, the eight members of Stray Kids headlined Lollapalooza for the second year in a row, and have released their ‘Chk Chk Boom‘ music video featuring ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman
If you’re not familiar with Stray Kids yet, you must be living in a cave.
The K-pop band, which debuted in March 2018, has truly taken the industry by storm in the past years. The eight members have been topping Billboard charts, breaking global records with their music releases, headlining international music festivals became ambassadors of major luxury brands—and they’ve made sure we know it’s only the beginning.
So far, 2024 has been a groundbreaking year for the band. If you’re new to the STAY fandom, Tatler has summarised their latest achievements, as well as a few facts to know about them.
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1. Stray Kids has taken Lollapalooza 2024 by storm with an exceptional performance
K-pop band Stray Kids took Lollapalooza by storm with a electric performance (Photo: Instagram / @lollapalooza)
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In early August 2024, Stray Kids used Chicago’s music festival Lollapalooza as the moment to show the true rock stars that they are on stage. They ignited the stage with hits like S-Class, Chk Chk Boom, and Lalalala. It marked the second consecutive year the group has headlined any Lollapalooza event, following the band’s performance at Lollapalooza Paris last year.
2. Stray Kids is taking over the movie industry with ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’
Stray Kids has a lengthy love story with the Deadpool franchise, and they showed it in the latest Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) movie.
On July 17, Marvel Entertainment released the tracklist for the movie’s soundtrack, including a new song from Stray Kids, titled Slash. Two days later, the K-pop band released the music video for their song Chk Chk Boom where the eight members are seen around New York City, with a surprise cameo of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.
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3. Stray Kids is the first K-pop band to attend the Met Gala together
The eight members of Stray Kids at the 2024 Met Gala. (Photo: Getty Images)
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All eight members of Stray Kids have flown from Seoul to make history at the Met Gala. While K-pop idols such as Blackpink’s Rosé or Jackson Wang have attended the Met Gala in the past, it’s the first time that all the members of a group show up together at the prestigious event. Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N. are all wearing custom looks by Tommy Hilfiger, who said to media outlets that “dressing all eight Stray Kids—a global force in pop music—for a Met Gala red-carpet experience has been one for the books”.
4. Stray Kids has been making waves in the fashion industry
Above Stray Kids member Hyunjin is Versace’s global brand ambassador (Photo: Instagram / @realstraykids)
Above Stray Kids member Felix in Louis Vuitton (Photo: Instagram / @realstraykids)
Stray Kids member Hyunjin is Versace’s global brand ambassador (Photo: Instagram / @realstraykids)
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The Met Gala wasn’t the first time the eight members of Stray Kids wore Tommy Hilfiger. The K-pop band and the designer have been working together since 2023, when they were selected to become the Asian ambassadors for the brand’s fall campaign.
Hyunjin also became the first Korean to be selected as the global brand ambassador for Versace in 2023, and Felix was picked as a house ambassador for Louis Vuitton the same year.
5. Stray Kids debuted following a reality show, and has defined roles in the group
Above Stray Kids (Photo: Instagram / @realstraykids)
Above Stray Kids (Photo: Instagram / @realstraykids)
Stray Kids (Photo: Instagram / @realstraykids)
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Stray Kids debuted in March 2018 under JYP Entertainment. The members were selected through Korean TV Mnet’s survival reality programme which the band is named after—a first for the entertainment company, which had never before selected members to form a band from such a reality show before.
Stray Kids is divided into three groups based on the members’ expertise. The first one, called “3Racha”, is composed of Bang Chan, Han and Changbin—and they are mainly responsible for songwriting, mixing, arranging and producing the band’s songs. They officially became members of the Korean Copyright Association in February 2023.
The second unit, composed of Lee Know, Hyunjin and Felix, is named “DanceRacha” and takes care of choreography, and the third one, titled “VocalRacha”, consists of Seungmin and I.N., the group’s vocalists.
6. Stray Kids has been breaking music records for years
In 2021, Stray Kids’ second studio album Noeasy became their first million-selling album. The next year, the K-pop group would release the very well-received EPs Oddinary and Maxident, which topped the US Billboard 200 and entered the UK Albums Chart.
In June 2023, Stray Kids released their third album 5-stars (stylised as ★★★★★), which at the time became the most pre-ordered release in K-pop history with 5.13 million copies ordered before the release of the album.
In 2023, they were featured on Time’s Next Generation Leaders list for embracing new sounds such as EDM and rock in their music.
7. Stray Kids has an impressing Instagram following
On top of their band’s Instagram account @realstraykids with almost 30 million followers, JYP Entertainment has announced that the boy group members Bang Chan, Changbin, Hyunjin, Felix, I.N. and Seungmin opened personal Instagram accounts in August 2023. Lee Know and Han followed and opened individual accounts in March 2024.
Within the first six hours of the accounts’ creation, the members were followed by more than a million fans. Among them, Felix exceeded one million followers within two hours. Impressive, we say!
This article was originally written in Chinese by K. Hau.
Salomé Grouard was Digital Editor and Front & Female Content Lead at Tatler Hong Kong. Primarily focused on managing Tatler Hong Kong’s digital platform and content, she also covers gender equality, the music scene and sports through interviews with industry leaders, experts and trendsetters.
Interview highlights include renowned conservationist Dr Jane Goodall, Korean actor Park Seo Jun, singer Jorja Smith, Chinese TV host Yue-Sai Kan, YouTuber Kimono Mom, Japanese rapper Awich, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter Mikey Musumeci.
She has also produced stories on revolutionising sexual wellness in Asia, activism within the surfing community, Asian trans musicians reclaiming their narratives through music and looked at the toxicity of gym culture through the lens of the plus-size community. She also covers music festivals, such as Hong Kong’s Clockenflap and Bali’s Suara.
