[Edaily Starin KIM HYUNSIK Reporter] The group Stray Kids (Bang Chan, Lee No, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N.) has resumed its global run, making a strong showing on domestic and international charts with their new album. While BTS led the K-pop craze in the first half of this year with their new album featuring the title track “ARIRANG” and their world tour, Stray Kids has taken up the baton and is building on that momentum.

◇Aiming for a New Record: 9 Consecutive No. 1s on the Billboard 200
Stray Kids made their comeback on the 7th with their new mini-album “THIS & THAT.” This is their first album release of the year, featuring eight tracks including the title track “THIS & THAT.”
Album sales have been soaring since their comeback. According to Hanteo Chart, a domestic album sales tracking site, on the 12th, “THIS & THAT” recorded cumulative sales of 2,844,550 copies just five days after its release, putting it on the verge of surpassing 3 million copies.
They are also making their presence felt on international music charts. The title track “This & That” topped the “Top Song Debut Global” chart on Spotify—the world’s largest music streaming platform—which ranks newly released tracks from the 7th to the 9th, while the album ranked second on the “Top Album Debut Global” chart. It held the top spot on the Worldwide and European iTunes Daily Album Charts for four consecutive days from the 7th to the 10th. Meanwhile, the music video for the title track surpassed 50 million views on YouTube in just about three days after its release.
Amid this momentum, fans’ anticipation is building for the group’s performance on the Billboard 200, the main U.S. album chart. Previously, Stray Kids reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with their previous album, “KARMA,” released last year. With this achievement, they have secured eight consecutive No. 1 entries on the Billboard 200—a first in the chart’s history.
Local music chart prediction sites and social media accounts are forecasting that “This & That” will debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 next week. If they achieve their ninth consecutive No. 1 on the Billboard 200, they will once again demonstrate their unparalleled album power in the United States, the world’s largest music market.
Contenders for the No. 1 spot include Ariana Grande’s “Petal,” which topped the chart last week, as well as Olivia Rodrigo’s “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love,” Ella Langley’s “Dandelion,” and Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem.”

◇Kicking Offa New Tour… Targeting South American Festivals
Stray Kids will also embark on a new world tour to promote this new album. They kicked off their new “RUN IT” tour with five solo concerts at the KSPO DOME in Songpa-gu, Seoul, held on the 25th–26th and 29th of last month, as well as the 1st and 2nd of this month.
Stray Kids is a group that has already proven its strong global ticket-selling power through large-scale world tours. Last year, they successfully concluded “dominATE,” their largest-ever world tour, which spanned 56 shows across 35 regions worldwide.
This time, in addition to the tour, they are also setting their sights on South America through the new music festival “STRAYCITY.” “STRAYCITY” is a festival planned by concert promoter Live Nation and their agency, JYP Entertainment, centered around Stray Kids, who possess global influence and strong ticket-selling power. The festival will kick off on the 9th of next month (local time) in Bogotá, Colombia, and continue in cities such as Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Mexico City, Mexico.
Attention is focused on the achievements these artists—considered leading figures in the K-pop market for the second half of the year—will make. At a press conference held prior to their comeback, Stray Kids stated, “Rather than aiming for records or achievements, the most important thing is to share music filled with sincerity with our STAYs,” adding, “We’d be incredibly happy if our hearts reach our fans and the results follow accordingly.”
Stray Kids will continue to build momentum for their comeback by releasing a remix version of “This & At” at 1:00 p.m. today via various online music platforms.