5-Star by Stray Kids Album Review
When I was writing an IELTS, there was a song that stuck in my head for two hours straight. I tried my best to regain my focus, but the addictiveness of the song made my efforts fruitless. Barely finishing the test, I immediately started playing the song on repeat and was attracted by its uniqueness. The song was S-class by Stray Kids. Stray Kids’ unique ability to self-produce an entire album led to the production of their full length-album “5 star”, effectively displaying their group identities and making a lasting impact on the audiences through the track “Youtiful”.
Stray Kids is a well-known, global K-pop idol, who is distinguishable from other artists through their ability to self-produce. Being comprised of 8 members, Stray Kids are managed by JYP entertainment and made their successful debut on March 25th, 2018. Members were selected by the public through an audition program, and that is when I first became attracted to Stray Kids. The fact that Stray Kids compose, produce, and record all their songs by themselves differentiate them from other K-pop artists. Stray Kids are divided into three units: 3-Racha, the composing team as well as the rap unit, Dance-Racha, and Vocal-Racha. The names come from a hot sauce, Sriracha, illustrating the piquant tang of their music. 3-Racha members, Bangchan,
Changbin, and Han, are the ones who give Stray Kids their unique identity through lyrics, raps, and melodies that well-express their perspectives. Dance-Racha leads the dance practice, and its
members include Leeknow, Hyunjin, and Felix. Vocal-Racha, the main vocals of the group, include Seungmin, and I.N. Rap, dance, and vocal units communicate and collaborate with each other to produce a distinctive, characteristic album that is loved by millions of people worldwide.
“5-star” is Stray Kids’ 3rd full-length album that represents their uniqueness, confidence, and aspirations through the mix-pop elements. The first track of this album, “Hall of Fame”, displays their groundbreaking achievements and the unprecedented records they have made. They quoted a famous maxim “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” by Neil Armstrong in their lyrics, implying the continuous, diligent efforts they have made to be named in the hall of fame as Neil Armstrong did. It shows their ambitious mindset and their desire to become the top in the field. Similarly, the title song of the album “S-class” focuses on their extraordinariness and uniqueness. “The most special star, star, star, star, star, star, the odd one. That’s me.” is its main chorus, and the repetition of “star” indicates that they are the most peculiar even among the weird ones. By calling themselves “the most special star,” Stray Kids is making expectations for their promising future and also focusing on the bright side in the middle of the hardships. The similarity between “Hall of Fame” and “S Class” is also reflected by their beat and sonics, which seamlessly blend trap, EDM, and hip-hop elements. Based on the mix-pop genre, both songs utilize pulsating beats and characteristic rap verses to create sounds and mood unique to Stray Kids, making them exceptional.
All the songs in the album were excellent and met the high standards of the audience, but among the great songs, “Youtiful” had the most lasting impression on me while “Collision” did
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not. The 10th track of the album “Youtiful” is a combination of the words “you” and “beautiful”, highlighting the beauty intrinsic to everyone and encouraging the audience to love oneself. “Youtiful” stood out to me primarily due to its reminiscent nature, as it reminded me of my
friends in Korea. My friends are currently studying for the university entrance exam happening in November, which is notorious for its difficulty. Though I am an international student, I am fully aware of the stress and pressure my hometown friends have to endure. I want to share my favorite lyric of the song “don’t you ever tell yourself that you’re not enough, I am certain that you’re truly fine” with my friends, helping them alleviate their stress and anxiety. On the contrary, the song titled “Collision” had a relatively weak impression on the audience due to the inconsistent message it conveys.While the overarching theme of the 5-star album is Stray Kids’ uniqueness and ambition, “Collision” rather focuses on love and heartbroken individuals. Being remote from the confidence and aspiration Stray Kids try to display, the song has less impact on the entire album compared to other tracks.
My overall rating for the album “5-star” is 9 out of 10. Most of the tracks in the album supported and supplemented each other to convey a coherent theme and message, except for a few songs like Collision. Collision would be a better fit if it were included in Stray Kids’ other album “Maxident.” However, despite its flaws, the album has gained great success worldwide and effectively developed the identity of Stray Kids through its uniqueness. Stray Kids and their albums will be remembered all time by global K-pop fans and show the unlimited potential in their music careers.