With a new Stray Kids era comes new music, new content, new records being broken, and a new way to make history. THIS & THAT easily made its mark in Stray Kids‘ story with a genre-bending album that pushed their sound even further and reconfirmed that they’re far from done exploring what they can do with their music. It’s only right that an album like this one would lead Stray Kids to break one of the biggest records yet: by earning them their 9th consecutive number 1 Billboard 100 spot, Stray Kids became the first act in history to have their nine first entries top the chart. As Stray Kids head for another huge tour, we’re not ready yet to let go of this era, and here’s the content that best encapsulates everything we’ve loved about it!
INTRO “THIS & THAT”
Some of the best content we get with every Stray Kids comeback is their signature INTRO video. Watching this should be a requirement to listen to THIS & THAT, as Stray Kids go in depth into the making of the album, the inspiration, how the songs came about, and the recording behind-the-scenes. Stray Kids‘ INTRO is always released before the album, and it builds the suspense and excitement for what’s to come. It makes the first listening experience all the more interesting because you find yourself looking for the details they mention. But it is also some of the best content to look back on once you’ve discovered the album for yourself. It gives the songs even more depth and dimension, and acknowledging every detail of the making of each song makes them sound even better.
‘This & That’ Performances
Bringing a song like ‘This & That’ to life is a whole challenge in itself – one that Stray Kids not only took head-on but absolutely excelled at. The song is catchy, witty, laid-back yet full of energy, and has such a unique aura that the choreography and the performance had to fit it. Everything about the stages Stray Kids gave us was top tier. With ‘This & That’ being quite different from Stray Kids‘ previous title tracks, the choreography also felt refreshing and overflowing with that charm and aura they bring to every stage. Every detail ends up being unforgettable and making the song even catchier. And in true Stray Kids fashion, every performance holds something special that makes you want to watch every single one of them.
Encore Stage
Apart from making history on Billboard, ‘This & That’ earned Stray Kids six wins. We barely saw it coming, but ‘This & That’ ended up joining ‘Thunderous,’ ‘Case 143,’ ‘S-Class,’ ‘Chk Chk Boom,’ and ‘Ceremony‘ as their title tracks with the most wins, and it earned them their 50th win in the process. The best part of wins has to be encore stages: it’s fun, chaotic, and one of the best moments to highlight live vocals. The one encore stage we got for ‘This & That’ was precious and gave even more life to the song.
B-Side Music Videos
Just like the INTRO video, a tradition of every Stray Kids comeback are the Unveil videos that tease some of the b-sides, and more times than not (even though we’ll never forget ‘DOMINO‘ and ‘B Me‘) we get the music video. Of course, the THIS & THAT era started huge with the release of one of their grandest songs and music videos, ‘RUN IT,’ but when it comes to b-sides, Stray Kids dropped two very different music videos for two very different songs, which, on its own, goes to show the complexity of the mix and genre-bending Stray Kids did in this comeback.
The music video for ‘After You’ is the first time Stray Kids have released a music video through Spotify, and it gave us that same perfect nostalgic, angsty yet hopeful aura throughout different scenarios that explored different dynamics. Through its different scenarios, the music video of ‘After You’ fully captures the message of the song: forming a bond with someone and missing them. It captures the same feeling as a music video like ‘Mixtape: OH’ did, and those are some of our favorite Stray Kids music videos.
The music video for ‘FARMING’ is a whole other tone, genre, and vibe. We leave the nostalgia and angst behind to become weird, disjointed, and chaotic. ‘FARMING’ is a Stray Kids song of excellence. It takes the electronic side of the song and turns it into a playful music video, taking inspiration from the 2000s computer aesthetic. Just like the song feels weird and strange, the music video blends so many scenes and inspirations. It makes ‘FARMING’ even more special – if that was even possible.
‘Back Then’ (SONG by. Version)
Unfortunately, Seungmin wasn’t able to make it to the encore stage or the music videos for ‘After You’ and ‘FARMING,’ but he did offer us one of the most precious videos to come out of this era. It’s no mystery that there’s something really special about every cover Seungmin does through his SONG by. series, it’s even more magical when it’s a song written by Han. Seungmin offered this beautiful rendition and reimagining of THIS & THAT‘s final B-side; it feels cozy, warm, and gives a whole other level to one of the biggest highlights of this album by highlighting all the emotions Seungmin captures with his voice.
3RACHA Session
We could never get tired of hearing 3RACHA talk about the behind-the-scenes of making their own music and shaping Stray Kids‘ identity. One of the absolute best pieces of content to come out of this era, that no one should miss out on, is the 3RACHA podcast they did with Spotify: 3RACHA Session. Not only does every episode add another dimension to the album, but it expands on how 3RACHA‘s view of the world impacts their music-making. If there’s one way to understand their music-making, it’s by watching this podcast.
Spotify’s Smart Shuffle Show
Stray Kids capture everyone’s attention just by releasing the intricate, unique music they make with every comeback, but a big part of each era is, of course, the variety shows. We’ve had several highlights this era, like Bang Chan in Sana’s Fridge Interview, or Hyunjin and I.N in Match-anda-Kani, but put these eight in the same room and the energy is unmatched. Spotify gave us more than half an hour’s worth of content, including the members answering questions about 3RACHA while they were (supposedly) not listening, and a shuffle where they sing ‘This & That,’ but they sing another member’s part. This video is an easy addition to our comfort Stray Kids content playlist.
YouTube K-bongbakdu
Stray Kids have come such a long way, and it’s important to acknowledge everything they’re doing now and how they’re expanding boundaries. Still, we can only truly do that while also celebrating where they come from and the most iconic moments that got them there. That’s basically what Stray Kids did by looking back at some of the most iconic and memorable moments on YouTube, with a fun shuffling, impromptu switch of parts of ‘DO IT.’ It’s the perfect leap into this new era of Stray Kids.
What’s your favorite thing to come out of this era? What was your favorite performance of ‘This & That?’ Be sure to let us know by tweeting us at @thehoneypop or visiting us on Facebook and Instagram.
Need more Stray Kids content? We got you!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT STRAY KIDS:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | TWITTER | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE
