Stray Kids to release ‘合(合)’ on December 13th

Stray Kids will be releasing SKZHOP HIPTAPE ‘合 (HOP)’ on December 13th.

Stray Kids announced on their official SNS channel at midnight on the 15th that they will be releasing a new format album SKZHOP HIPTAPE on December 13th. They also revealed their first teaser content ‘Stray Kids SKZHOP HIPTAPE “合 (HOP)” Logo Splash’. SKZHOP HIPTAPE is a combination of the abbreviation for Stray Kids, ‘SKZ’, and hip-hop (HIP-HOP), and it was completed by collecting songs that are a ‘new genre of SKZ’, like a new genre that has not been officially defined.

The first teaser video shows red and blue round spheres creating strong ripples on calm water, and the process of the ripples turning into strong waves. The waterway is completed with a unique typography that combines ‘合’ and ‘HOP’. Through this, Stray Kids foreshadows that they will create a ‘new wave’ with SKZHOP HIPTAPE.

SKZHOP HIPTAPE‘s first work, ‘合 (HOP)’, contains an ambiguous meaning by combining the 合 completed by the eight members of Stray Kids and the English name of the hip-hop genre, ‘HOP’.

Starting with their 2022 mini-album ‘ODDINARY’, Stray Kids has successfully entered the US Billboard main chart ‘Billboard 200’ for five consecutive times with their latest work ‘ATE’. In particular, their first comeback this year and their latest work ‘ATE’ has surpassed 500,000 single and album sales in the US, earning their seventh gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. In addition, it was named the best-selling K-pop album in the US in 2024 based on tallies as of September 30th (US local time).

Thanks to their hot popularity, Stray Kids will officially release their new album SKZHOP HIPTAPE ‘合 (HOP)’ on Friday, December 13th at 2 PM (12 AM EST), and will end the year on a splendid note.

Prior to this, Stray Kids released their second Japanese full-length album ‘GIANT’ and the title track of the same name on the 13th. They proved their explosive popularity locally by topping the Oricon daily album chart for two consecutive days from November 12th to 13th. To commemorate the release of their new full-length album, they have collaborated with various companies including Suntory, Osaka HEP FIVE, Japanese railway company JR Central, Shinkansen, Tokyo Dome City, NewDays, Spotify, and beverages, landmarks, transportation, concert halls, convenience stores, and music sites, and have begun large-scale comeback promotions locally.

Jeong Hee-yeon, Donga.com reporter shine2562@donga.com