The success of the senior groups made a series of agencies from small to large compete to debut their own version of boy and girl groups. It’s the same with JYP Entertainment, which was already successful with the phenomenal group TWICE which debuted in 2015. As a partner, three years later, JYP Entertainment also introduced the boy group Stray Kids to the public. Let’s get to know this group closer from their struggle to their debut!
Stray Kids’ Pre-Debut
Almost the same as its seniors, Stray Kids also turned out to be created from a competition program. In August 2017, JYP Entertainment announced the event that would later form the group with a music video titled “Hellevator” which was also performed by the participants. This boy group was formed from a survival show with the same name, Stray Kids, and was broadcast through Mnet’s YouTube channel. The nine trainees who were struggling to debut as idols were Bang Chan, Woo-jin, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N. Although the event was a competition and there were several contestants who were eliminated, JYP Entertainment decided to debut Stray Kids with 9 members. In other words, all the trainees involved in the competition managed to step up to debut as an idol in the group. During their pre-debut period, Stray Kids also released a music video entitled “Hellevator” and several other songs that were put together through the album Mixtape. Their pre-debut album also managed to reach second place on the Gaon chart in Korea and Billboard for the US World Albums category.
Stray Kids’ first appearance in the music video titled “Hellevator” really surprised fans and viewers. How could it not? Bang Chan and the other members presented music that was so different from the genres that JYP Entertainment usually made. Slightly following the market trend, they came with upbeat music and energetic dance moves. Stray Kids also formed their own team without the intervention of JYP Entertainment staff. Interesting, right? Stray Kids was formed by the leader himself, Bang Chan, who underwent the longest trainee period for 7 years among other Stray Kids members. Bang Chan was entrusted by JYP Entertainment to choose the Stray Kids member formation himself. He was trusted to do this because he is the longest trainee among the other members. Bang Chan underwent a training period at JYP Entertainment for seven years and was the same age as the members of GOT7, DAY6, and TWICE. Stray Kids debuted with 9 members. Through the competition program broadcast on television, the audience and fans were able to get to know Bang Chan and the other members further. In fact, they could see the nature of each member. Well, here are some facts and profiles about the 9 members of Stray Kids! The first, of course, is Bang Chan (20 years old) who is the leader of Stray Kids. Bang Chan joined JYP Entertainment in 2010 after successfully auditioning in Australia. Next is Kim Woo-jin (20 years old) who turned out to be a trainee at SM Entertainment and had trained with NCT‘s members. Lee Min-ho who is now known as Lee Know (19 years old) had been practicing for about 4-5 years. In fact, this guy was a backup dancer in one of the BTS group tours! Next is Seo Chang-bin (18 years old) who was a trainee at JYP Entertainment for two years. Similar to Chang-bin, Hwang Hyun-jin (18 years old) also turned out to have gone through a trainee period for two years before finally being able to debut together with other Stray Kids members. Meanwhile, Han Ji-Sung or Han (17 years old) turned out to have lived and studied in Malaysia. Not all of Stray Kids’ members are born in Korea just like Felix (17 years old) who was born in Australia. Next, there is Kim Seung-min (17 years old) who managed to join JYP Entertainment because he won second place at the JYPE 13th Open Audition event in 2016. The last one, of course, is the maknae, Yang Jeong-in, who is now better known as I.N. There are many unique things that can be obtained from this Stray Kids member. Besides being born in Busan, it turns out that I.N also has the ability to sing trot songs.
Stray Kids’ Music Video Debut Teaser
JYP Entertainment as the agency that managed Stray Kids’ debut finally released several series to welcome their debut after almost a year since their appearance through the survival show. On March 3, 2018, a mysterious video trailer titled “I Am NOT” was released. There is narration at the beginning of the video and it reveals a few Stray Kids members wearing white hoodies and giving the impression that they are going to reveal something prior to their debut. As is known, “I Am NOT” is their first EP which was released soon after.
On March 21, 2018, approaching when Stray Kids released their very first music video, there was a slight highlight of the songs where every tracklist on the EP I Am NOT was revealed. In this case, “District 9” as one of their debut singles also came in audio snippet format.
On March 23, 2018, Stray Kids finally revealed the music video teaser for “District 9!” In the music video teaser, it showed the mysterious side of the members who wore all-white outfits and looked like they were in a hospital with the all-white nuances.
The next day, on March 24, 2018, Stray Kids released another music video teaser for “District 9.” However, in this teaser, Stray Kids seems to be outside the building and trying to escape while running away. After that, the members were seen choreographing for “District 9” in a few seconds.
