TW: Racism & Terrorism

Disclaimer: This is not to dismiss the fact that dangerous situations have risen during the the day of the concert - missing people, harassment, etc. This is to call out people who drop the “terrorist” comments very easily without using their minds.

As a person who used to live in Saudi Arabia, I am greatly offended. And to the arabians in this platform, I’m sorry for some of the shit you have to go through.

For those out of the loop, a little summary of the situation. During the day of the concert, a huge sandstorm came which ended up cancelling the concert. There were over 35K people in the venue. With this much people adding to the bad weather and sad situation, accidents happened such as getting lost and harassment which then caused a mass hysteria. The mass hysteria then lead to false news such as kidnappings.

I understand the concern of the people yet some need to be careful with their words. Saying and I quote that this happened because Saudi Arabia is an unsafe country full of terrorists. This is beyond the situation already. It’s not like something like this would not happen if it was outside the Kingdom. And I hope fans do some thinking first before dropping comments like, “kpop should stop holding concert in Saudi Arabia”. It’s not something you should drop casually.

As someone who used to live there, I can assure you that it is a country I felt the safest. I’m also not saying that the news about the country are false - even if some are actually overreacting some situations - but people need to stop being racist and stop viewing the country with it’s negative notion. Like all other countries, the Kingdom has its positive and negative. Think first before dropping comments very casually.

I would also add that during the severity of the situation, Saudi fans were the ones that were doing the most help and finding solutions for the problem.

I'm going to say this immediately: this is NOT speculation of the members' sexualities. NOVVKIM, the director, is a lovely man with a lovely boyfriend. This is an analysis of his, the director's and not the members of Stray Kids', art. (And even if he wasn't LGBTQ this is still a valid analysis of an extremely beautiful music video because art of subjective/personal for each interpreter regardless of the artist's true intent.)

And, this post does contain spoilers for Blue Is The Warmest Colour. If you've heard of the movie and intend to watch it unspoiled, I'd click away.

To start, I always kind-of thought Ex was weird, as a music video.

I mean, it's a song about mourning the loss brought upon oneself by cheating on someone they cherish. It's pretty dark? And yet the music video, while somber, calls upon the inner child and displays of innocence. There's lots of smiling and trampoline jumping and playing in a garden of flowers. Vibrant colours and birthday cake but also depression and drowning. I thought it was just juxtaposition added for the sake of being juxtaposition. But then, Howl In Harmony* comes out. I find out who NOVVKIM is, and that he directed the Ex music video. And then on his Instagram story he talks about his boyfriend, and promotes his drag queen friends from an LGBTQ+ creative collective because he does photography for them and it's super cool.

*(Edit: Howl In Harmony is a series SKZ did where they discuss song and music video production, and come up with their unit songs for NOEASY. It's the first time STAYs got to see NOVVKIM sit down and interact with the members as they collaborated.)

And then the themes of the inner child, innocence, sin, freedom, flowers, and the colour blue all made sense to me. I see the vision behind it, now, and I'm floored. The video can be analyzed through the lens of commonly shared emotions and experiences in the LGBTQ community. Even going as far, I think, as to reference Blue Is The Warmest Colour. So, buckle up I guess, because when I haven't slept for 30 hours and have watched excessive amounts of philosophical video essays as an alternative to sleep, my first instinct is to write an essay about a random b-side's music video. Why not?

If you haven't watched it, here's the link. And to reiterate for context going forward: the song is about missing an ex you didn't treat well, with a part of the second verse allu

in light of all the recent posts targeted at discrediting skz and their achievements, i figured why not retaliate by praising my boys at what i know they do best - their performance.

earlier in the year, they walked away holding the winner's trophy of kingdom, a show that week by week ranked the performances of 6 boy groups. i won't elaborate too much on that - it was 2 annoying months of stress and jumping hurdles to evade fanwars on every social media platform, although it did give us gems like god's ddu du ddu du, i'll be your man, wolfgang and whatever next level shit mayfly were onto.

now, after the victory, there was, of course, discourse on whether skz fully deserved to win, but... after what we've seen during this year's awards season, there's truly no doubt they more than deserved to win a performance-based show like kingdom. why don't we re-visit the performances they've given us this far?

first of all, there's this year's AAA, where they performed domino and thunderous. admittedly, this was the more simplistic of all the performances here, no fancy set designs or a specific concept, they still managed to incorporate their signature theatrics, and 3racha came out of left field to bless us with new, original rap verses. like... all this just for one award show?

then came their performances of cheese and a totally new rendition of thunderous with - you guessed it - 3racha giving us new self-written rap... because remixing their songs and performing them on a fancy set with a literal spaceship, instruments that look like weapons, and hordes of dancers totally wasn't enough. on top of that, hyunjin literally danced while holding a flaming sword... what??? the boys were particularly excited for this one, they gushed on bubble for weeks about how proud they are of the performance and how this is probably their biggest one yet... and if you ask me, they were right.

then came the kbs song festival, and this version of thunderous immersed us in the traditional aesthetic that followed their noeasy album, quite literally turning a palace into their stage. and even though this wasn't your typical stage performance, the artistic

I made a similar post about a year ago to learn more about the Stays on this site. I was surprised at the amount of responses I got and how fun it was.

So I'm doing it again in honor of the new year and the insane growth of the r/straykids subreddit!

See this post as a way of learning new things about each other (newcomers and old-timers alike!) and an opportunity to share your interests that you haven't had much opportunity to talk about in this subreddit.

Feel free to talk about anything: traveling, bowling, ice skating, a language you're learning, soccer, collecting gum, the major you're pursuing, etc.

Mine is: "I blame myself, I blame you. I don't know who to blame, my resent grows. Trying to break down the wall just breaks my heart. While making my mind up, I missed the most important one, you."

It was a tough choice, but in the end I chose this part of the lyrics of 좋아해서 미안 because it expresses beautifully the consequences of being so self-centered: regretting the decisions made, playing the blame game, overthinking and consequently beginning to lose your loved ones.

This is going to be extremely short as the title says everything but not only is calling stray kids “stray dogs” extremely disrespectful it’s also racist.

Many east asian kpop stan’s have expressed their discomfort with that name so please for the love of god stop

if you need proof of this i will try to get some screenshots as people love to post and delete

Stray Kids - SKZ2021

Type: 2nd Compilation Album

Release Date: December 23, 2021

Track List:

1. Scars (Korean Ver.)
2. Awaken
3. ROCK (돌)
4. 3rd Eye
5. Placebo
6. 불면증 (Insomnia)
7. 그림자도 빛이 있어야 존재 (Behind The Light)
8. 편 (My Side)
9. 극과 극 (N/S)
10. 0325
11. For You
12. 잠깐의 고요 (Maze of Memories)
13. 고장난 나침반 (Broken Compass)
14. Hoodie Season

Stream On:

• Spotify
• Apple Music
• YouTube Music
• Amazon Music
• Deezer
• MelOn
• Genie
• Bugs
• FLO

Believe me, I’ve been trying to finish this since the 31st of December so I can post it on time for the new year but because of the holidays and a busy work season, I’m 15 days beyond schedule. If you’re like me though, you probably still have a 2021 STAY hangover. Everything that happened last year still feels like a fever dream.

I want to make this mini timeline/appreciation post because I feel like 2021 is one for the skz history books. It should be recorded and never forgotten. It was the least kind and at the same time the kindest year for both Stray Kids and Stays. If stays want to have a quick look back on how the year went, we’ll have this record. Before I start, please don’t hesitate to add your favorite moment (especially if I forgot any). Now, let’s go! P.S this is just an overview and not an exact timeline so events may get mixed up.

THE BEGINNING

The year opened with the release of Step Out 2021. January started great and calm. 2020 was a great year of growth for Stray Kids, so everyone (even non-stays) were anticipating what the group had in store for the new year. After the release of step out 2021, they  released teasers for their first fan meeting.

During this time, it was already known that Stray Kids was joining “Kingdom”. As we waited for it to begin, they gave us countless content as players and records. They also received a bunch of new CFs and partnerships. At the end of January, they released the teaser for SKZ Code. February began and it was fun at first. They held their first fan meeting and released the first episodes of SKZ Code. Then, the storm came.

THE START OF THE ROUGH PATCH

The first 2 months of the year were quiet and calm and at the same time fun until certain issues and scandals started appearing. First, was Han's racist rap that he made when he was 13. I am gonna admit that I was greatly hurt when the scandal arose but I accepted his hand-written apology - which I’m very thankful he did - and most of us moved past that. When I thought everything was over, another scandal came crashing down. I’d say this was the biggest storm that happened to Stray Kids and Stays during 2021 - Hyunjin's bullying scandal.

I can still clearly remember how it all went down. Bullying scandals came one by one. I was an audience to this, at least I thought I was only an audience. Then, a bullying article that mentioned Hyunjin dropped and my heart sank to my stomach. I remember commenting saying, "Wasn't this old new

Hey there guys and gals! I am a new stay and have decided after listening to Christmas Evel that this group has something to go through their entire discography. So I guess I am just writing my thoughts on the albums I have heard so far and which songs really stood out to me.

Mixtape: Man what a pre-debut for this group! While Hellevator is ok to me, the rest of the album is better imo. Grr, YAYAYA,school life, and 4419 so incredible to me. This mixtape definitely had me feeling validated in my desire to dive into this group.

I AM NOT: Tbh I think it is my least favorite of the albums I have heard so far. I think district 9 is their weakest title track I have listened to so far but songs like mirror and awaken I like a lot. Some part of me feels like this could’ve been a pre-debut but since this is a trilogy of albums i think it works out just fine.

I AM WHO: Ok so this is easily one of my favorite K-pop mini-albums of all time. Like i have genuinely considered buying a physical copy online cause this album for me has no misses. The entire mini is in my stray kids playlist even including who? My pace is a incredible song, question and voice really good B-sides, and then you have insomnia AND awkward silence this mini-album had me struggling to continue on in the discography cause i was listening to this over and over lol.

I AM YOU: Another incredible album, while I still like I am who more this album is also incredible. My side, hero’s soups and get cool are awesome vibe songs to me. N/S I can’t lie is so damn addicting to listen to. 0325 has that awesome beat change and is another banger by this group. For me again this album combined with I am who must be one of the best back to back mini-album runs I have listened to.

MIROH: This is the last album i have listened through. MIROH as a title track is insane, such a increase in just sheer production and I love it. Fight song is a song i just was bobbing my head to, Maze of Memories they just spazzed on. But now for my favorite stray kids song: Chronosaurus. I literally have this song on repeat while I am writing this, just such a banger. This album I feel a real shift in pace/tone from the group (feel free to correct me if I am wrong) and I love it a lot.

So all in all if I had to rank what I had listened to so far from least favorite to favorite it would be: I am not, mixtape, i am you, miroh, and I am you. I am loving this group and cannot wait to get more involved in this community and group

One of the first things I found the most attractive to me when I discovered Stray Kids was their group name. It might sound foolish, but it really struck me. And in my opinion, their name has definitely played a part in their current success. Just like their group greeting says, they wanted to "step out" and clearly make a difference in the K-pop industry from the very beginning. I firmly believe that: sometimes, in order to find yourself, you need to get off the beaten track.

What do you guys think?

I'm hoping that 2022 is going to be the year we can officialize 4RACHA as a thing, because Hyunjin has officially joined the lineup as writer and composer!

#LoveStay is a ballad written by Hyunjin, Felix, and I.N and is the second Stray Kids song to not have a 3RACHA credit on the lyrics, and the first OT8 one. It's this out-of-nowhere surprise drop that decided to rip my heart out for no goddamn reason; a fan-dedicated song about mutual love and support. It's written very similarly to Hyunjin's Little Star that he released for SKZ-Player last year, and it seems to be the fruits of Felix and I.N's constant labor as well. The former was practicing his lyricism on Kingdom (adjusting his own raps and such), and I.N is in the practice rooms nearly every damn day, so it's only logical that at some point he'd start writing his own material. And of course, we've known Hyunjin to be learning how to write and produce for a while now, with a surprising amount of songs under his belt that are unfortunately locked away on Chan's Laptop.

It's far from the first time they've participated in OT8 tracks, after all they all have credits for their verses on their remade 3RACHA songs. However I think this is the first time that a Stray Kids song, sung by all members, has not had a 3RACHA credit on the lyrics. Which feels so strange, but so right? Same with Felix singing the chorus. Confidently! We got little snippets of his vocals in 24 to 25 and SSICK but now he's starting to blossom. It's crazy, looking at Hyunjin and Felix sometimes, because their vocal growth happens so rapidly. One minute they're announcing they want to improve and the next they've got long verses to showcase their newly-developed style.

I'm so proud of I.N, too. I'm actually surprised he doesn't share a composition credit with Hyunjin because this is so up his alley. I can feel his influence distinctly in the lyrics, though. Hyunjin waxes poetic about everything, and Felix likes to use pretty and distinct language, but I.N tends to be more plain-spoken. He balances them out well. While I'm sure Hyunjin and Felix could write a song without being too flowery, especially with Hyunjin's experience, I like how they recreate 3RACHA's balanced dynamic in themselves.

It's a lovely song. If the video didn't start with the lyric credits, I wouldn't bat an eyelash and would just assume it was self-written by Chan. I'm not generally

Their music is really good for de- stressing when you get off work or even get pumped going to work. I'm a 1st grade teacher and this year (especially last year) is rough and so stressful due to teaching jn a pandemic, admin demanding a bunch of paperwork, small kids learning how school works and how to socialize, dealing with some tough behavior, working a whole bunch of hours past your contracted time and etc.

I am a fan of NCT's music and started to listen to Ateez, TXT, Stray Kids, Enhypen recently. I binged Kingdom (I skipped around a few times but got the gist of the show). I am liking Ateez but at the moment, Stray Kids really got my attention, especially from Kingdom. (I like their sister groups, Twice and Itzy).

I started listening to their music. The whole discography just to get a feel of their sound. I thought NCT (especially my fave 127) was good for jamming out after a stressful day, but as I was listening to Stray Kids with the EDM sound (Road Not Taken, Side Effects, Any (my fave), Miroh, Domino, SSICK, Cheese, We Go, STOP, Back Door and etc.) getting off work in the car and going to work, I was like, "Damn! I feel a bit pumped for the day and feel my anger and stress deflate (just a bit)." I even bought their In Life album because I enjoyed all the songs.

I think I found my next favorite boy group after NCT. Ateez, I'm still exploring next (love their personalities). Exo was recently rediscovered last year. Just thought I'd share.

Edit: I hope this is the correct flair!

Hi, Stays! Welcome to the Stray Kids monthly roundup: June 2021 edition! So many good things happened this month!

← May 2021

June 2021

Highlights

• Kingdom spoilers: >!Stray Kids wins Kingdom!!<
• Hyunjin is back! He returns from his hiatus with the group's OT8 release of "Mixtape : 애" (Eng. "OH")

Stray Kids - Mixtape : 애

• Stray Kids collaborates with Japanese apparel brand WEGO

Stray Kids×WEGO

• Comeback rumor: >!Stray Kids is rumored to have their next comeback on August!<

News and information

Major releases

MUSIC

I got this idea from a post on r/kpopthoughts and wanted to do a SKZ version :) !

Now it doesn't have to be "super unrealistic" but it could be something that you think SKZ will never do but would really like to see.

For me is....

1. 3racha/Stray Kids members to collab with an American artist

Like in a music video together, a surprise performance (somehow someway). Specifically, I would like to see 3racha collab on a track with Megan the Stallion since they are full into hip hop. I would like to see Seungmin collab with Chloe x Halle together or separate because their voices are so pretty and Seungmin's voice would mix in well. I say this is really unrealistic because I do not see JYPE letting them venture out like that so far anytime soon. I say American because I'm an American so I am more familiar with the artists. And also because they have collabed with non Korean artists before, but not American (unless I am wrong. If I am can someone respectfully please correct me? :) )

2. Solo songs & promoting them

The boys have such different personal music styles and I really would like to see them all to have the spotlight to show off. I say this is super unrealistic because the boys are very focused on making music as a group right now. But they have done a lot of albums and already ventured into making their own songs on their channel. So there could be a 8% chance that they could slow down a bit and do something brand new.

3. One of the boys as a lead in a TV drama

I fully believe this is unrealistic because Minho straight out said he doesn't want to act, and two the others do not seem very interested. But ever since the On Track mv I really want to see one of them in a school romantic/comedy drama. Preferably a college based drama. Maybe one day lol.

Disclaimer: This isn't me demanding. This is something that I would love to see but don't put too much hope into. Just a fun thing, nothing serious.

A bit late, but a Happy New Year to everyone on the sub! How’s everyone starting their new year? I’m on my period and I have a sore throat so both my neck and abdomen hurt like hell Hopefully good! Anyway!! Despite some bumps along the way, the last year has been one of massive growth for both Stray Kids and the community they’ve created, especially the one here, on Reddit. I know that for many, including myself, 2021 was a year full of rough patches. But the personal growth I experienced and the things I’ve been able to gain make me really want to look forward to 2022.

So in the spirit of starting afresh, instead of popping the tired “What’s your New Year’s resolution?” on y’all, I present a question that’s a little more specific: What have you gained from STAYing with Stray Kids in the past year? And if applicable, what do you want to give back to them in 2022? (When I ask “What have you gained?”, I’m referring to what you’ve personally gained outside of content or new music.)

Since I asked the question/s first, I’ll start. I’m so grateful for having gained so much from being a STAY in the past year, and I want to give back just as much as what I’ve received.

Disclaimer: This gets kinda mushy. I do this thing where I “get personal” and I know it’s not for everybody so yall have been forewarned 🤪

STAYing with Stray Kids in 2021…

• Gave me light in a dark time. February was not kind to Stray Kids or Stays–and knowing no other Stays at the time, I felt so isolated in my anxiety and lost as to what to believe. Additionally, moving to a new city alone, without a single friend made yet, and then staying confined to my room because of the lockdown, did not help. Hyunjin is my ult, so my limited understanding of his circumstances only caused me more worry and confusion. Eventually, my information escapades led me to Reddit, where I found answers to the questions I had from many other Stays on other kpop subs. It was because of them that some of the fog around me had lifted, that I could receive some much-needed clarity after a long time in the dark. And as much as watching an incomplete Stray Kids pained me in 2021, it was much easier for me to carry on despite that.
• Allowed me to find a new passion and interest. Though Kingdom was…not the best thing I’ve ever experienced in the first half of 2021, it was also the only Stray Kids-related thing happening, so I really threw myself into it. I had watched that very first introduction

so for the last GAYO this year (MBC) Stray Kids performed Thunderous with a huge New Year bell on the background. Chan on his vlive said that the bell rung 33 times during their performance.

In South Korea, it is tradition during New Year to struck a giant bell to celebrate. (Bosingak)

Chan said how ringing the bell 33 times for their performance is a lot and without making it sound distracting and yet they managed to pull it off!! The bell ringing during the performance was not distracting at all, it sounded so natural like it's already part of the song's structure while also adding something new to it.

The amount of efforts and details (big or small) Stray Kids' put into their performances is just amazing

Stray Kids just hit a little over 6 million monthly listeners today on Spotify and it gave me the push I needed to sit down and appreciate their growth and all they do for their fans.

First, let's talk about their growth this year! They went from 11 million instagram followers this January to being 100k away from 18 million. Last year in Spotify, IN LIFE accomplished 200 million streams by Dec to this Dec reaching 500 million streams -- making them one of only four other groups (BTS, BP, Big Bang) to have an album reach that goal (and it's repackage with 17 tracks!). They went from 1 billion streams last year to being a hair 1.99b from reaching 2 billion streams this year. That's thanks to the +2.7 million followers they've gained on the app. I know that numbers aren't everything but when we look at numbers in context of the group itself, the growth really does stand out. The Spotify stats probably blow my mind the most because it seems as though their music is really resonating with people. It's the reason I became their fan and it's the reason I stay (ha, sorry).

Okay with that out of the way, let's talk about all they do for their fans. Despite not having a comeback until NOEASY's release (11 months after IN LIFE) and a member's hiatus, Stray Kids have tried their best to give what they can, when they can to their fans. The love and appreciation they give to STAY is something that I cherish as a fan and I just want to highlight some of what they've done or accomplished this year.

This year, Stray Kids released these SKZ-Records and SKZ-Players:

I love Christmas EveL. It's hilarious, witty, and I love SKZ for making an anti-Christmas song the title track of their very first seasonal album.

What I didn't expect is how it would absolutely blow up on social media the closer we were getting to Christmas!

I don't have TikTok myself but it is apparently HUGE there and blew up after a dance crew made a cute little choreo to Felix's iconic Felix Never Bad verse. Now, it has recorded the highest kpop boygroup MV views (overall, above GANGNAM STYLE) for both December 24 and 25 (fitting for Christmas) and Spotify daily streams have almost doubled, even higher than when it was first released. It was even included in Spotify's official Christmas Pop playlist (the only Korean song to be there alongside both classic gems and new songs)!

It's high time we acknowledge it as one of this year's viral hits, alongside After School, Anti-Romantic, and Fever—it now even has the highest total videos underneath the sound over these three hits with even non kpop fans using it for their Christmas TikToks, along with influencers with tens of millions of followers using it too.

2021 was a crazy year for SKZ and they experienced soooo much growth, and along with their brilliant yearend stages, Thunderous going mega viral in China (Douyin), this feels like the icing on the cake of all the amazing content they're giving us. Proud of you, Stray Kids! 🎄

EDIT: Wow, I didn't think this seemingly innocuous post would generate as much discourse/discussion as it seems, esp since I thought it going viral on TikTok is pretty well known to people who have the app? I personally don't but from what I see even non kpop people who use it know the little audio clip because of the dance. My main point of this post was to make people here on Reddit aware of its virality because it's slowly growing to the same level of other "established" TikTok viral songs like Fever or Anti-Romantic and After School (which it now has more video entries than). Interrsting!