Your Guide To Stray Kids: A Fandom FAQ

Stray Kids have become one of the most prominent boy groups in the K-Pop industry, and with every day that passes, they become even bigger and more successful. It’s never too late to dive into their perfect discography and the amazing, unique, self-produced group that is Stray Kids! Whether you’re looking for an introduction or a clarification about information, or you just want to read about Stray Kids – you’ve come to the right place. This is all you need to know in a nutshell to become a Stay!

An Introduction To Stray Kids

When did Stray Kids debut?

Stray Kids debuted on March 25th, 2018. Their debut title track was ‘District 9,’ which they released alongside a mini-album: I am NOT.

Who are the members of Stray Kids?

Stray Kids has eight members: Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N.

What are Stray Kids’ members’ real names?

Bang Chan: Bang Chan (방찬) / Christopher Bang
Lee Know: Lee Minho (이민호)
Changbin: Seo Changbin (서창빈)
Hyunjin: Hwang Hyunjin (황현진)
Han: Han Jisung (한지성)
Felix: Felix Lee / Lee Yongbok (이용복)
Seungmin: Kim Seungmin (김승민)
I.N: Yang Jeongin (양정인)

Where is each Stray Kids member from?

Bang Chan was born in Korea, but moved to Australia when he was very young. Felix is also from Australia, born and raised, though his family is from South Korea. Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, and Seungmin are from Seoul and the surrounding areas. I.N is from Busan, South Korea. And even though Han is from Seoul as well, he did live abroad in Malaysia for a while before coming back to South Korea to become an idol.

How was Stray Kids formed?

Stray Kids has a bit of a unique origin story. It all started with Bang Chan, their leader. He trained under JYP Entertainment for almost seven years, until the company eventually trusted him to put together the next boy group – and that’s what he did. Bang Chan handpicked every single member of Stray Kids. Their survival show, Stray Kids, aired at the end of 2017. The members went through different missions as a group, or sub-units, in order to prove to the company they could debut. Because, contrary to other K-Pop groups, the company didn’t pick them, it was Bang Chan who did. Spoiler alert: all the members debuted as Stray Kids. Lee Know and Felix were technically eliminated along the way, but they came back due to popular demand in the last episode.

What’s Stray Kids’ motto?

Stray Kids’ phrase is “Stray Kids all around the world, you make Stray Kids stay.” The first part of the sentence is meant to invite and give a safe place to anyone that feels lost. The second part of this phrase emphasizes how Stays – Stray Kids’ fandom – are the reason Stray Kids exists.

What are some of Stray Kids’ most notable achievements?

Stray Kids have achieved a lot in the past years and they keep growing every single day. It really is true when they say Stray Kids have led the 4th generation of K-Pop, and they’re also the pioneers in the Mala Taste genre. But here are some of the things they’ve achieved through the years!

• Boy group with the most rookie awards (12 in total) 
• Two #1 albums on the Billboard 200 chart within the same year (2022: ODDINARY and MAXIDENT)
• First 4th-gen boy group to reach 1M sales
• Highest Selling 4th-Gen Boy Group Album (with MAXIDENT)
• Won Mnet’s Kingdom
• Daesaeng of Best Performance for ‘Thunderous‘ at the Asian Artists Awards 2021

Stray Kids Lore

What is 3RACHA?

3RACHA is a unit consisting of Bang Chan, Changbin, and Han. They created this unit before they debuted as Stray Kids to start creating, composing, writing, and producing music together. Under the name of 3RACHA, they’ve released three mixtapes on SoundCloud along with some extra songs. Their first mixtape, J:/2017/mixtape, was released on January 18th, 2017. They also adopted other stage names for these releases – Bang Chan is CB97, Changbin is SpearB, and Han is J.One. They are the producing unit in Stray Kids – they’re the ones that write and produce all of Stray Kids’ music.

Where can I find 3RACHA’s music?

Most of 3RACHA’s music is still on their YouTube channel and SoundCloud account! Some songs have been deleted since 2017, but they still are flowing around the internet. Regardless, most of them are out there and ready for you to listen to them.

What are the other Stray Kids units?

Stray Kids has three units: 3RACHA, Danceracha, and Vocalracha. They’re named after the original sub-unit, 3RACHA. Danceracha is the dance team in Stray Kids, consisting of Lee Know, Hyunjin, and Felix. Vocalracha consists of Seungmin and I.N. These units, however, don’t define their position within the group – some members are vocalists, dancers, and rappers all at the same time. The units represent their main positions, but they’re far far from defining the boys’ only positions in Stray Kids.

What’s Div1?

Stray Kids is under JYP Entertainment. This company is divided into different divisions, with different groups being managed by different teams. Stray Kids are managed by Division 1 (or Div1, like we usually call it). As of now, the only other group under JYP Entertainment that is managed by Div1 is 2PM.

What’s SKZ-Record and SKZ-Player?

This is a YouTube series that allows the members to release covers, original music, and even choreographies. SKZ-Player is for when the songs have a video, whereas SKZ-Record is just audio. It started in 2018 with the release of a SKZ-Player for each unit during I Am WHO era and has continued until now. This series gave a way for Stray Kids to release individual songs, as well as experiment with different units, and it allows the members to express different sides of themselves. They mostly used the platform throughout 2020 and 2021, but they’re still releasing content. These videos are always released at midnight Korean time and don’t have a set weekday.

Stray Kids are also set to release the SKZ-Replay album digitally in December 2022, which will include both SKZ-Records and SKZ-Players!

What is SKZ2020 and SKZ2021?

Stray Kids re-recorded most of their discography from before October 2019 due to a member leaving the group. The first part of the re-recorded songs was released on Stray Kids’ Japanese debut album: SKZ2020. It included all the title tracks and their most known b-sides, as well as the Japanese versions of some of their Korean title tracks. Later on, Stray Kids released the re-recorded version of most of the remaining songs in a digital album named SKZ2021. It also included the Korean version of their 2021 Japanese title track, ‘Scars,’ and the previously CD-only track ‘Hoodie Season,’ also known as ‘Mixtape#5.’

What are the Mixtapes?

You might notice that there are several songs in Stray Kids’ discography titled ‘Mixtape.’ The numbered mixtapes were released as b-sides in Clé 2: Yellow Wood, but they were initially released as CD-only tracks in previous mini-albums. Each of these mixtapes is actually a group version of 3RACHA tracks! ‘Mixtape#1’ was released in I am NOT and was a revisited version of ‘Placebo.’ ‘Mixtape#2’ was released in I am WHO and was a version of ‘그림자도 빛이 있어야 존재’ (or in English, ‘If There’s A Shadow, There Must Be Light’). ‘Mixtape#3’ was released in I am YOU, revisiting ‘For You.’ ‘Mixtape#4’ was Stray Kids’ version of ‘Broken Compass’ and was released in Clé 1: MIROH. The final mixtape, as of now, is ‘Mixtape#5,’ released in Clé: LEVANTER as a new version of ‘Hoodie Season.’ In SKZ2021, all of these songs were released under their original 3RACHA title. 

Any other mixtape released after Clé: LEVANTER – like ‘Mixtape: Gone Days’ or ‘Mixtape: Time Out’ – don’t have an original 3RACHA version. These are songs that were released as special gifts to Stays on different occasions. ‘Mixtape: Gone Days’ was released for Christmas 2019, ‘Mixtape: On Track’ was released for Stray Kids’ second anniversary, ‘Mixtape: Oh’ was released after Stray Kids won Kingdom, and ‘Mixtape: Time Out’ was released on Stays’ third anniversary.

What’s an unveil video?

Since Clé 1: MIROH, Stray Kids started to tease their b-sides through what they call an unveil video. These serve as a teaser to the song as well as the music video that will accompany it. Sometimes songs with an unveil didn’t end up having a full music video – like ‘B Me’ or ‘DOMINO’ – but most of the time, if a song has an unveil, it will have a music video. It makes the comeback season even more exciting, as Stray Kids don’t put emphasis only on the title track, but on the b-sides as well!

What’s “STEP OUT?”

“Step out” is a phrase Stray Kids use a lot – notably for their greeting. It’s a saying they reference in their lyrics and it also gave way to the name Step out of Clé, the digital single album with the English versions of both ‘Levanter’ and ‘Double Knot.’ But this isn’t what we’re talking about here. Every December 31st, at midnight Korean Time, Stray Kids release their ‘STEP OUT’ video on YouTube. It is a video that highlights Stray Kids’ main activities and achievements during the year that just passed. But most importantly, with these videos, they announce most of the things they have planned to release or do during the following year. Of course, there are always surprises in the year and sometimes things don’t go according to plan. But it is a way for Stray Kids to let know Stays what’s to come and what to look forward to for the year.

What’s ‘Chan’s Room?’

Back in 2019, right when the members began to be able to do individual VLives, Bang Chan promised to go live every week for the entire year – and it has stayed that way ever since. Back at the beginning of 2020, he did it monthly, but he went back to a weekly schedule right before the release of GO LIVE in June. It didn’t use to have a specific schedule and while it does tend to change from week to week, Bang Chan usually goes live on Sunday for around an hour between 9 pm and midnight Korean Time. He used to go live on VLive, but in October 2022, he moved to YouTube. It has become a safe place for every Stay and one of the most meaningful things for us.

What are some of the nicknames Stays and the members use?

Stays tend to call each member by their real name. That’s to say that, for example, we call Bang Chan by Chan about 90% of the time. But there are also some nicknames used within the fandom and by the members – here are the most used ones:

Bang Chan: Channie, Chris
Lee Know: Lino
Changbin: Binnie, Bin, Dwaekki
Hyunjin: Hyune, Jinnie
Han: Hanji
Felix: Bok, Bokkie, Lix
Seungmin: Puppy (‘멍멍이,’ pronounced “meong-meong-i”)
I.N: Innie, Baby bread (in Korean, ‘아기 빵,’ pronounced “agi bbang”)

Which emojis represent each member?

Bang Chan: Wolf (🐺)
Lee Know: Bunny (🐰), but also cat sometimes (🐱)
Changbin: Both rabbit and pig at the same time (🐖🐇)
Hyunjin: Llama (🦙) or dumpling (🥟)
Han: Squirrel (🐿️)
Felix: Chick (🐥), but also cat sometimes (🐱)
Seungmin: Dog (🐶)
I.N: Fox (🦊)

What’s SKZOO?

SKZOO are the special characters that represent each member. They were revealed at the end of 2020 and since then, we’ve had different types of merch and videos. The members have even dressed up as their characters for performances! Wolf Chan is Bang Chan, Leebit is Lee Know, Dwaekki is Changbin, Jiniret is Hyunjin, Han Quokka is Han, Bbokari is Felix, PuppyM is Seungmin, and FoxI.Ny is I.N. Each of them is based on their representative animals – Hyunjin’s is different from his emojis because there’s no ferret emoji.

What are the different pets Stray Kids have?

Stray Kids are very big on their pets and they constantly talk about them – not all of them have pets though. Bang Chan has a dog named Berry back in Australia. Lee Know adopted three cats: Soonie, Doongie, and Dori. Hyunjin has one dog named Kkami. And finally, Han’s family has a dog called Bbama!

Who’s Jureumi?

This is a character that Lee Know invented even before Stray Kids’ debut. He draws it on basically everything. The name Jureumi comes from the word ‘주름’ (pronounced “jureum”) which means wrinkles. And you will see this character in most things Lee Know touches.

What’s Dwaekki?

Dwaekki is one of the SKZOO characters, but it is also so much more than that. While most idols have one animal that represents them, Changbin uses both rabbit and pig at the same time. When mixing the Korean word for both (pig is ‘돼지’ pronounced “dwaeji” and rabbit is ‘토끼’ pronounced “tokki”), it leaves us with Dwaekki. Even before the SKZOO characters were unveiled, this is a term that was already used within the group. Changbin created it during ‘Side Effects’ era and it’s stuck since then.

What’s the drawing Bang Chan always makes?

Similarly to Lee Know‘s Jureumi, Bang Chan has a character of his own. He started drawing it in 2018 everywhere and it evolved over time – he started to add some elements to it. It is still unclear if it’s a dragon, a snake, a dinosaur, or anything else. But it’s cute!

What are the different lores in Stray Kids’ content?

Stray Kids have put out several sketches until now and there are two main lores you need to know about: the family lore and the office lore.

The family lore started back in 2019, in The 9th’s fifth season. It started with a sketch that portrayed a family reuniting to celebrate Chuseok. And it gave way to so many inner jokes! Felix is the grandfather and I.N is the grandmother. Their two sons are Han and Seungmin, married to Hyunjin and Lee Know respectively. Meanwhile, Chan and Changbin are Han and Hyunjin’s sons. This was also what gave origin to the ongoing joke that Lee Know and Seungmin are a divorced couple. They went from married in that first sketch, then to “on the brink of divorce” in a radio appearance, and finally to divorced in 2020.

The office lore started in 2020 with a sketch they released for Stays’ anniversary. The most important thing to know about this is that I.N is the boss and Bang Chan is the intern – putting the maknae literally on top.

Connecting With Stray Kids

Do Stray Kids have social media?

As of now, Stray Kids have only group accounts. Their Twitter is managed by staff, but they sometimes do “menpas” (mention parties). The staff also manages their Facebook page. The social media platform where they post the most is Instagram, but they are quite active on TikTok as well – they’ve gone viral there a couple of times already, as they deserve! 3RACHA also have an Instagram account, but it hasn’t been active in years.

Stray Kids has separate accounts for their Japanese schedules. They’re managed by the staff, but they’re notably active on their Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.

[SKZ-BEHIND📸]

시원한 파도 소리와🌊 멋진 풍경⛰ 그리고 맛있는 음식까지!😋
무엇보다 소중한 멤버들과 함께라서 더 완벽했던 스키즈의 제주생활😌💖#StrayKids #스트레이키즈#스키즈코드 #SKZCODE#슼즈로운제주생활#SKZfulDaysinJeju#YouMakeStrayKidsStay pic.twitter.com/MuOjnNAnWj

— Stray Kids (@Stray_Kids) August 17, 2022

What Stray Kids videos should I watch to get to know them better?

Stray Kids have a discography made of gold, but if you want to get to know them better as people, they have an immense amount of video content. Here’s some of the main content you can find!

The 9th: This was Stray Kids’ first show, where they got to play games and do different activities. It had five seasons, from pre-debut in 2018 to 2019. All of the seasons are available on their YouTube channel. It’s a very enjoyable look into their dynamic as a group and into seeing them outside of everything that is music. Even if it’s a bit old now, it still holds up and is a nice look into Stray Kids in their debut year. It also gave way to so many iconic moments that made the fandom at the time!

SKZ-CODE: You could consider SKZ-CODE the upgrade of The 9th. This show is even more of a variety show, with better sets, games, and concepts overall. It started in early 2021 and it still is going on now. They play games, travel, and so much more!

SKZ-Talker: These videos are the behind-the-scenes of their promotion weeks and award shows. They tend to summarize the entire week of promotion or award shows and are usually between 20 and 30 minutes long. They are also available on their YouTube channel.

SKZ-Go: This has the same concept as SKZ-Talker, showing the behind-the-scenes when Stray Kids perform. But SKZ-Go shows the behind-the-scenes of their concerts and travels!

SKZ-Vlogs: To have more of a look into the boys individually, the SKZ-Vlogs are very fun to watch. The members tend to film what they do on their days off or vacations.

INTRO: This isn’t so much of a series, but more of a tradition. Before their comeback, Stray Kids always release a half-hour-long video explaining the process behind the songs they create. If you’re interested in the making of songs, this is definitely for you. It gives such an interesting and captivating look into the music they create.

Finding SKZ: This is a reality show Stray Kids did with Mnet for three seasons as of today. Each season has a different concept – the last two seasons’ concepts were related to the comeback they were promoting. While these last two seasons can be found on Mnet’s YouTube channel, only the exclusive clips of the first season can be of the first ones. It can be found somewhere on the internet though, just like everything ever.

2 Kids Room: This is a series Stray Kids have been doing since I am WHO, where two of the members are put into a room to talk to each other. It’s a nice glimpse into each duo’s dynamic, but they also tend to talk about behind-the-scenes moments and pre-debut stories. It originally had 5 seasons, in which all the members got to talk to each other member at least once. For the fifth season, they were asked whom they wanted to do the episode again. Stray Kids made several versions of a similar concept (as we’ll explain in a little bit) and brought the original concept back in 2022 where they directly released one episode for every pair – this time, adding commentary from the other members about that pair.

One Kid’s Room: The first variation of 2 Kids Room was One Kid’s Room, where they all took the MBTI test. One member would be put in a separate room to talk about his own personality, while all the other members were put in another room to talk about him. Even though the Kids have done the MBTI test again since then and their results have changed, it remains a good look into their personality and dynamic with the members.

Two Kids Room + 1: This is basically the same concept as 2 Kids Room, only that they put three members in a room instead of two. However, it only has one season, so they didn’t cover every single possible combination.

Two Kids Song: For this series, the members were put randomly into pairs to create a short song with the same track. It’s a nice look into their creative process – after all, Stray Kids is a self-produced group.

Heart Kids Room: This is a series where one member would try to find his soulmate within the group through questions, not knowing who was replying. This is also the first of many love-matching shows Stray Kids has done.

SKZ-Camp: This is Two Kids Song, but upgraded. The members got separated into three different groups and in these videos, they came up with the concept for a song and a music video. This is the origin story of the sub-units in NOEASY!

What is VLive?

VLive is a platform where all idols upload the videos they also upload on YouTube, but most importantly it’s a free platform that allows idols to go live. It also has a board where Stray Kids used to post updates and different notices. However, VLive merged with Weverse at the beginning of 2022 and it is set to officially close on December 31st, 2022.

What is Bubble?

Bubble is a paid platform where the members have individual chats to message the people that are subscribed to their chat. There’s also a community tab that is available for the people that paid for the fanship. They are very active on this platform and thankfully, there are a lot of update accounts you can find on Twitter if you don’t subscribe!

What’s the fanship?

The fanship is a subscription that gives you special access to content, as well as special access to concerts and other schedules if you live in South Korea. Even if you’re an international fan, the fanship still gives you access to exclusive content such as the community tab in Bubble!

Inside The Fandom

What’s Stray Kids’ fandom?

Stray Kids’ fandom is called Stay! Our anniversary is on August 1st and they usually release a bunch of content for us to enjoy.

What are some jokes I should know?

Stray Kids has been around for a while, so it would be impossible to go around all the jokes that have been recurrent in both Stray Kids’ content and within the fandom. However, these are some of the most iconic and impactful jokes. Keep in mind, there are many more and some of these jokes have died out with time. But we still believe you need to be aware of all of these!

Jutdae: Back during the ‘Back Door’ era, Changbin went viral for telling Seungmin he should make his own opinion about a drink after he asked him if it was good. The way he worded things led to make him known as a “man of principle,” but the line itself is also known as the jutdae line. Changbin is still known for this quote.

Gimpo butt hunter: When performing ‘Back Door,’ everyone started to notice that Lee Know tried to touch the other members’ butts as much as possible. It earned him the ‘Gimpo Butt Hunter’ title back then (as he is from Gimpo). Since then, it has become a given that all the members – still Lee Know more than anything – will try to touch each other butts as much as possible during each performance. Not even just for ‘Back Door,’ it has gone way beyond that.

Baboracha: We’ve mentioned the different units before – the official ones. Now, the “racha” suffix is used for several different unofficial units. As an example, Nyangnyangracha refers to Lee Know and Felix, because they’re both referred to as cats. However, Baboracha is a whole other deal – “babo” in Korean means “fool.” It originated in 2020 from the VLive Lee Know did that Hyunjin and Han joined. Together they took different quizzes and answered riddles that were meant to test their intelligence.

‘WOW’ by 3RACHA: 3RACHA have many iconic lyrics from their songs, but if there’s one song that has the most of them, it’s ‘WOW.’ The song has become a running joke due to its outdated and cringe-y lyrics. Even the members reference it and make jokes based on the lyrics!

“Mate, stop procrastinating”: This is another lyric from 3RACHA that was one of the most used memes in the earlier Stray Kids days. This time, the lyric is taken out of ‘Double Knot’ – and bonus, it is also in that song that we get “double knot on my Yeezys.” (Not to be confused with ‘Double Knot’ by Stray Kids, which has actually nothing to do with the 3RACHA song.)

Changbin’s Yooh: Every rapper has their signature at the beginning of their verses. And for Changbin, notably in the 3RACHA songs, it was “yooh.” He hasn’t done it in a while but it is still one of the most iconic things he has ever done.

“Seungmin in the building”: When it comes to introducing themselves individually, this is a phrase that Seungmin repeats constantly. The members usually clown it, or make parodies of it. He first said it when he was MCing with Felix at the special Halloween episode of MCountdown back in 2018. And history was made.

Focus on your dancing / Focus on your rap: Through the first Hyunjin and Han 2 Kids Room, they revealed that during the pre-debut era, they didn’t really get along. While recounting the events of their bickering, they mentioned how Hyunjin kept getting irritated at Han for not getting the choreography right for ‘Hellevator.’ He then told him to “dance better,” to which Han answered, “Focus on your rap.” This is an episode that they’ve made reference to multiple times and it is the quote that embodies their pre-debut relationship the best.

20 minutes at 180 degrees: You know how one of Hyunjin’s representative emojis is a dumpling? Well, between the end of 2020 and 2021, there was a running joke about it between the members. Lee Know argued that because Hyunjin was a dumpling, by putting him in the oven for 20 degrees at 180 degrees he would get cooked. This led to a lot of jokes both from the members and the fandom.

I’m foive: As we’ve explained earlier, Stray Kids have two types of recurrent “lores.'”In the family lore, Bang Chan is Hyunjin and Han’s kid. In the sketch they uploading for Stays’ third anniversary, when asked how old he was, Bang Chan answered with the thickest Aussie accent: “I’m five,” which is transcribed to “I’m foive.” It became a very popular joke within the group and the fandom as well.

The stay pose: The “stay pose” originated during ‘Thunderous’ era. In Stray Kids’ episode on Weekly Idol, they got asked what Stays should do when meeting each other to let the other know they’re a Stay as well. Lee Know and Han came up with a pose that’s taken from the ‘Thunderous’ choreography. More specifically, it’s the beginning of the chorus.

stray kids doing the stay pose ft han jisung forgetting to do it ㅋㅋㅋㅋ pic.twitter.com/ZawttiC1Cr

— rest (@minsungsource) September 13, 2021

Naur: Well, this has become kind of a regular internet meme at this point. But if you ever wondered where it all originated… It’s Bang Chan. It started with a clip from Chan’s Room where Bang Chan was looking for something and we kept saying “no” with an Aussie accent, and Stays started to transcribe it by “Naur.” Now you know where the meme originated!

Bang Chan as a side dish: The origin of this is a bit blurry, because many people mentioned it before Felix joked about it in Music Bank. But let’s back up before we get into that! “Side dish” in Korean is called “반찬” which is pronounced “ban-chan” – and you will notice how similar it sounds to Bang Chan. So this was already a play on words when Felix got asked at a Music Bank interview what his favorite side dish is and he answered that it was Bang Chan.

“Oi Felix”: This is from a VLive back in 2018 where Bang Chan was holding the camera and filming Felix, who was holding his ramen. This entire exchange is still iconic even if the references to it within the fandom have died down.

Wally: Bang Chan used to do his VLives in a different room than the one he does now – the original Chan’s room had an orange background and it lasted all throughout 2019 and into 2020. Back in one of his VLives in 2019, Stays decided to name the wall Wally. Unfortunately, Wally is no longer with us, but it will never be forgotten.

Brownie boy: In 2020, Felix started to bake – especially cookies and, of course, brownies. In one SKZ-Talker episode, we heard Lee Know calling after him and calling him ‘brownie boy.’ It seemed very fitting and it stuck!

Remember, this is a quick run-through all the essentials because there is so much to learn about Stray Kids – we”ll leave the rest up to you to discover! But if you’ve come this far, just know that stanning Stray Kids is probably the best choice you’ve ever made. And also: welcome to Stayville!

What made you get into Stray Kids? If you’re already a Stay, how long has it been? Be sure to let us know by tweeting us at @thehoneypop or visiting us on Facebook and Instagram.

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