Stray Kids has earned their ninth gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) with their SKZHOP HIPTAPE ‘合 (HOP)’, becoming ‘the first K-pop group’with five RIAA gold-certified albums.

According to an announcement on the RIAA‘s official homepage on the 11th (local time), Stray Kids received a gold certification for SKZHOP HIPTAPE ‘合 (HOP)’, released on December 13, 2024. The RIAA grants Gold status to works that have sold over 500,000 singles and albums in the United States.

With this, Stray Kids now holds a total of nine RIAA Gold certifications: singles ‘God’s Menu’, ‘MANIAC’, ‘Back Door’, ‘Sorikkun’ and albums ‘★★★★★ (5-STAR)’, ‘樂-STAR’, ‘ATE’, ‘MAXIDENT’, ‘合 (HOP). Stray Kids is the first K-pop group to receive five or more Gold certifications in the album category.

Stray Kids have recently been very active in the global music market, achieving remarkable results. Japanese famous artist LiSA‘s new song ‘ReawakeR (feat. Felix of Stray Kids)’ (Reawaker (feat. Felix of Stray Kids)) featuring Felix topped the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart on March 8, 2025.

The world tour ‘Stray Kids World Tour’, which boasts ‘its its largest scale’ with 55 performances in 34 regions around the world, is expected to mobilize a total of 2.2 million audience members and set a new record for ‘the most attendees in K-pop history’ for a single tour. Starting with two shows at the Estadio Bicentenario La Florida in Santiago on March 27th and 28th, they will hold a total of 34 large-scale stadium shows in 22 regions in Latin America, Japan, North America, and Europe.

Prior to this, on March 21st, they will release their first work of 2025, a new digital single, ‘Mixtape: dominATE’. ‘Mixtape: dominATE’ is the fifth work of Stray Kids’ ‘Mixtape Project’, which they have been carrying out since 2019.

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

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.