by Ameena Navab

Dubbed as the “leaders of the fourth generation”, South Korean boy group Stray Kids (SKZ) became the pioneers of a new genre in Kpop which set forth a blaze of international and national fame. Now, 5 years into their career, they entered the Billboard No.1 for the third consecutive time with their new album “5-star” and achieved a historic album sales record in South Korea’s Hanteo charts.

What’s more the boys became the first kpop artists in history by topping multiple other charts like the Artist 100, Top Album Sales, Top Current Album Sales and more for a total of 11 categories with a single album. Here’s how the 8 member group did it while breaking the norms and sounding completely different from the rest.

BEATING TO NEW SOUNDS

While most kpop groups dance and sing to the tunes of Hip Hop and R&B, SKZ broke the norm and managed to stand out from the crowd by introducing their own unique sound to the industry and audience - the mala taste genre.

The mala taste genre refers to the word “malatang”, which is a popular spicy Chinese hot soup. Until now, most Kpop music stuck to the tunes of the sweet and melancholy but SKZ came into the scene with their own spicy music that was full of heavy beats, EDMs and synths. The “mala” term was first used by Korean Media, News Naver to describe SKZ’s musical genre.

SKZ first showed off their talent in the mala taste through their title track “God’s Menu” from their first full album “GO LIVE” released in 2020. The song set the tone of SKZ’s music and skills with sounds that’s as quirky as it is addictive.

Though their signature genre is not one of melodies, SKZ’s vocal lines (consisting of members Seungmin, I.N, Bang Chan and Minho) ties in the harmony with the profound chaos and powerful rap, making the mala genre truly their own and one that the industry has never heard of before.

MEMBERS AS PRODUCERS

The main reason as to why SKZ could freely explore and introduce their own concepts and tastes is because they are the producers of their own music. The boy group consists of a sub-group called 3racha which is made of members Bang Chan, Han and Changbin.

While there are Kpop groups that do produce their own music, almost all of them started out while at the mercy of outside producers and songwriters. SKZ took the helm themselves from the get-go and steered their own path in all things Kpop and music.

With the three boys being 100% involved in their own songwriting and creation, 3racha became one of the youngest idols on KOMCA (Korea Music Copyright Association) with over 100+ songs copyrighted to their name in a span of just three years with Han being the youngest idol in KOMCA’s history.

BEING COMPLETELY EXPERIMENTAL

Thanks to 3racha being involved in their own music production, the boy group have gone to experiment with various songs and sounds that the kpop industry wouldn’t have dared to before. After the release of God’s Menu, the self-produced group made various styles of music and tracks that took them to number one spots in multiple music charts repeatedly within five years.

In 2019, the group came up with “Side Effects”, a song that used the psytrance genre with heavy EDM at its core and they were the first k-idol group to do so. In 2020, their song “Back Door” which brought together various elements of sounds, including that of a creaking door, became one of TIME magazine’s best songs of 2020.

Their comeback album “No Easy” in 2021 went onto receive critical acclaim and its lead single “Thunderous” offered a completely different tune compared to the current kpop music scene.

Thunderous made use of old and modern music styles from Changbin rapping in pansori, a traditional Korean folk opera, to the use of car honks in the track. The song became their first MV to hit 200 million views on Youtube and topped various charts worldwide.

But despite all the praise, their use of nontraditional tracks raised irk amongst conventional listeners and was even labeled as “noise music” by them. But this doesn’t deter the group and the boys wholly embrace their style.

THE LEADER’S CHOICE

SKZ often talks proudly on their difference in the industry and sharing the same tastes as a group. It’s quite clear that the boys share a bond and a similar mindset that’s as rare as they come. This is largely due to the fact that each of the members were handpicked by Bang Chan, SKZ’s leader, himself.

While all the members in every kpop group till date were chosen by the company’s executives and directors, SKZ made a shift in the power dynamics with Bang Chan choosing his own team members from a roster of trainees present in their company, JYP Entertainment.

This was a first in all of Kpop and led to the group creating MVs with concepts that dealt with mental health, life’s various problems, and being out of the ordinary or as the group calls it “ODDINARY”, which was a far cry from the typical Kpop MVs of love and youth.

JYP’S FIRST MILLION SELLER GROUP

With groundbreaking albums, spectacular voices and visuals, SKZ took no time to become JYP’s first million seller group with the release of their 2021 album “No Easy”. And their success didn’t stop there. They debuted thrice on Billboards No.1 in 2022 with their album “ODDINARY” and "Maxident” followed by their 2023 album “5-star.”

They also became the only fourth-generation group and the fifth overall Kpop group to achieve over 2 billion streams on Spotify joining the ranks of international big names like BTS, EXO, Twice and Blackpink.