K-Pop Group Stray Kids Breaches 100 Million Streams On Spotify For January

Fourth-generation K-pop group Stray Kids hit more than 100 million streams on Spotify for the month of January.

This new achievement is a great addition to the boyband's growing list of records and accomplishments. Fans can recall that the group also hit the headlines in January after the music video for its 2020 hit song, "God's Menu," breached 300 million views.

"God's Menu" talks about the group's determination to succeed in the heavily competitive K-pop industry without giving in to pressure.

Prior to reaching this milestone, Stray Kids — composed of Hyunjin, Felix, I.N, Lee Know, Bang Chan, Han and Seungmin — also amassed more than 500 million streams in December 2021 for the group's first full-length repackaged album, "IN Live," which was released in September 2020.

The boyband's massive hit "Thunderous" also climbed to the No. 1 spot on the iTunes Top Songs charts in 44 regions, including France, Argentina, Colombia and Sweden.

Considering the boys' success, many people have been curious about their creative process. Interestingly, Lee Know and I.N talked about the different approaches they take when creating songs in the latest episode of "Kids Room."

"I already have dozens of ideas on my head but I just can't turn them into lyrics," Lee Know revealed.

"Honestly, I am more comfortable writing lyrics than toplining (the process of putting lyrics into a previously made melody or beat)," I.N chimed in, adding, "While doing 'Gone Away,' I realized you get the best lyrics when you don't put too much thought into it. It's not hard for me to write lyrics but toplining is really hard."

In contrast, Lee Know said he finds it easy to create toplines but when he writes lyrics, "they end up sounding too childish or flat."

The two also looked back on their first meeting five years ago, when they were both contenders in a boyband search reality show launched by JYP Entertainment. At that time, Lee Know was only 20 while I.N was 17.

The two singers then wondered what they would be doing a decade from now.

"I hope that by then, Lee Know's joints would still be healthy enough to dance," I.N jokingly said.

As for Lee Know, he said they would probably be performing age-appropriate numbers for the sake of their fans, collectively known as STAY, when they reach 50.

Stray Kids will be holding its second official fan meeting, "#LoveStay SKZ's Chocolate Factory," at Seoul Olympic Hall on Feb. 12 and 13. Fans who won't be able to attend the event can watch it live via the Beyond Live app.