The group Stray Kids has won the Billboard Music Awards for the second consecutive year.

Stray Kids won the Top Global K-Pop Artist award at the 2024 Billboard Music Awards (hereinafter referred to as the 2024 BBMAs) held on December 12 (local time). Following their victory as the first fourth-generation K-pop boy group to win the Top K-Pop Album award at the awards ceremony last year, they showed their prowess this year by being selected as Global K-Pop Artists. The members expressed their gratitude, saying, “We are so grateful to STAY (fandom name: STAY) all over the world. It seems that we are able to receive such a precious award and stand on such a big stage because STAY is by our side. It’s all thanks to our fans.”

In addition, Stray Kids performed at the Billboard Music Awards for two consecutive years, proving their worth as ‘Global Stadium Artists’. They captivated viewers with their outstanding teamwork and presence with their performances of the title song ‘Chk Chk Boom’ and the b-side ‘JJAM’ from their mini-album ‘ATE’, which ranked #1 on the ‘Billboard 200’ for five consecutive times. The part where the individual performances of ‘Chk Chk Boom’ led to the group dance caught everyone‘s attention, and ‘JJAM’ maximized the song’s unique humorous atmosphere with a colorful and groovy performance.

Stray Kids are gaining momentum on the US Billboard chart. Starting with the mini album ‘ODDINARY’ in March 2022, they made a record of entering the ‘Billboard 200’ with five consecutive works including ‘MAXIDENT’, ‘★★★★★ (5-STAR)’, ‘樂-STAR’, and ‘ATE’, and the mini album ‘ATE’ title song ‘Chk Chk Boom’ is the third song to enter the ‘Hot 100’ chart, which is considered a major indicator of securing popularity in the pop market, following the ‘樂-STAR’ title song ‘Rock (樂)’ and the English single ‘Lose My Breath (Feat. Charlie Puth)’. ranked in.

In addition, they are also following in the footsteps of overseas music award ceremonies. At the ‘2023 MTV Video Music Awards’ in September 2023, they were selected as the winner of the Best K-Pop category with the title song ‘★★★★★ (5-STAR)’, ‘Special’, and they also enjoyed the joy of winning awards at the ‘2024 People‘s Choice Awards’ in February and the ‘2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards’ in April. Stray Kids’ ‘SLASH’, the soundtrack album for the film ‘Deadpool & Wolverine Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, has been nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media at the ‘67th Annual Grammy Awards.

Continuing the momentum, they are releasing a new format album SKZHOP HIPTAPE ‘合 (HOP)’ (합 (합)) and its title track ‘Walkin On Water’ today (13th). SKZHOP HIPTAPE is a combination of the abbreviation for Stray Kids ‘SKZ’ and hip-hop (HIP-HOP), and is an album that presents ‘SKZ‘s own ‘new genre’, like a new genre that has not been officially defined. The title song ‘Walkin On Water’ was produced by the group’s producing team 3RACHA, including Bang Chan, Changbin, and Han. Attention is focused on whether Stray Kids will once again raise their status after achieving their 6th consecutive no. 1 on the ‘Billboard 200’.

Stray Kids‘ SKZHOP HIPTAPE ‘合 (HOP)’ and the title song ‘Walkin On Water’ will be available on various music sites at 2 PM (0:00 AM EST) on the 13th (Friday).

Jeon Hyo-jin, Donga.com Reporter jhj@donga.com