Stay Kids third album most pre-ordered K-pop record ever

Boy band Stray Kids [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

Pre-orders for Stray Kids’ third full-length album surpassed 5.13 million copies as of Thursday, setting yet another record as the most pre-ordered album in the history of K-pop.

“★★★★★ (5-STAR)”, the boy band’s third full-length album which dropped Friday, had already made it to the most pre-ordered album in the history of K-pop back on Tuesday with 4.93 million copies pre-ordered. An update made a day before the album's release on Thursday confirmed that the album pre-orders surpassed 5 million copies.

The boy band's previous albums also saw positive sales figures, with Stray Kids' achieving its first million-selling album with its second full-length album "Noeasy" in 2021. It sold over 1.67 million copies, followed by its EP "Oddinary" (2022), which sold 1.85 million copies, and "Maxident," which sold over 3.42 million copies, making it the most-sold album from the boy band’s agency JYP Entertainment.

“We really wanted to return with our third full-length album with the quality that befits it,” said member Seungmin in a press release on Friday.

“We worked [on the lead track] aiming to create a song that ‘engraves the color and the presence of Stray Kids,” said member Bangchan.

Bangchan, alongside members Changbin and Han — also known by producing unit name 3RACHA — are known to produce almost all of the songs that the boy band releases. 3RACHA members were involved in producing all 12 tracks included in “★★★★★ (5-STAR)” including the lead track “S-Class.”

“We will be meeting STAY [fandom name] with music show recordings, fan meetings and other various content. Thank you for your support and your interest in us, and we hope we can write a new history with STAY through our new album. Thank you,” Han said.

Stray Kids debuted in 2017 as a nine-member group under JYP Entertainment. After Woojin left the band and agency in 2019, citing personal reasons, Stray Kids has been active as a group of eight — Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin and I.N.

Stray Kids will hold a meet and greet “Stray Kids 3rd Fanmeeting ‘Pilot : For ★★★★★'” at the KSPO Dome in Songpa District’s Olympic Park, located in southern Seoul on July 1 and 2.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]