Stray Kids (Korean: 스트레이 키즈; RR: Seuteurei Kijeu; often abbreviated as SKZ) is a South Korean boy band formed by JYP Entertainment through the 2017 reality show of the same name. The group is composed of eight members: Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N. Originally a nine-piece group, member Woojin left due to undisclosed personal reasons in October 2019.
Stray Kids released their pre-debut extended play (EP) Mixtape in January 2018 and officially debuted on March 25 with the EP I Am Not, followed by other two I Am series EPs, I Am Who and I Am You. Their Clé trilogy EPs were issued in 2019, consisting of Clé 1: Miroh, Clé 2: Yellow Wood, and Clé: Levanter. The group’s first studio album Go Live was released in 2020, becoming their first platinum-certified album by Korea Music Content Association (KMCA). That year, Stray Kids also made their Japanese debut with the compilation album SKZ2020 through Epic Records Japan.
In 2021, Stray Kids’ second studio album Noeasy became their first million-selling album. After signing with Republic Records for promotions in the United States in 2022, the group released EPs Oddinary and Maxident (both in 2022), and the third studio album 5-Star (2023), which marked their first three appearances to top the US Billboard 200 and entered the UK Albums Chart. 5-Star was certified five-million in album sales by the KMCA, making them just the third group to achieve this in Korean history. As of October 2022, Stray Kids has sold over 10 million albums across both Korean and Japanese releases.
Name
The group’s name “Stray Kids” was not defined by JYP Entertainment but conceptualized by the members themselves. It originally referred to a lost child who wants to chase their dreams and later evolved to represent the idea of finding a way together out of the ordinary.
History
2017–2018: Formation, debut, and I Am series
In August 2017, JYP Entertainment (JYPE) officially announced their new reality survival show with the goal of launching a male idol debut project. More details and teasers were released in the next two months, including the show’s title, Stray Kids. Prior to its premiere on October 17, JYPE released Stray Kids’ first music video for a song titled “Hellevator,” which was later released as a digital single. Two members, Lee Know and Felix, were initially eliminated from the group but returned to the final nine-member line-up.