Culture | Music Everything changed for boy band Stray Kids in 2023. Over the preceding three years, the eight-member group had become superstars in their home country of Korea , and made some waves abroad, winning awards and releasing chart-topping music. But then, in June last year, their fourth album – a hip-hop-pop-electronica Korean -language record titled 5-Star – arrived.
Made up of 12 songs, the album was a global hit. Stray Kids broke K-pop records, with over 5 million people pre-ordering the album. It went to number one in the US and in France, and number two in Australia, Germany and Japan.
“Stray Kids are flying so high above the crowd that they’re in a galaxy of their very own, where the parties are endless and the vibes are always five-star,” said NME in its review, heralding the album as a pivotal moment for the band. The months that have followed have been a whirlwind: Stray Kids went on a tour of Japan and Korea, won the Best K-Pop award at the 2023 MTV Video Music Award, were listed as one of Time’s Next Generation Leaders, attended the Met Ball dressed by Tommy Hilfiger , and some of its members have become ambassadors for global fashion brands. Now they’ll be closing BST Hyde Park , London’s massive concert series, boasting a 2024 lineup of Robbie Williams, SZA, Kings of Leon, Morgan Wallen, Andrea Bocelli, Shania Twain, Stevie Nicks and Kylie.
So who are Stray Kids, the K-pop band who might be the new BTS? The band was formed in 2017 in a r.
