For undisclosed personal reasons, Woojin left the band in October Stray Kids primarily self-produce its recordings; the main production team is named 3Racha and consists of Bang Chan, Changbin, and Han, and the other members frequently participate in songwriting.
Stray Kids were introduced through the eponymous reality television show. Their debut Japanese single " Top " debuted atop the Oricon Singles Chart , the fourth foreign male artists to do so with the first single.
In , Stray Kids' second studio album Noeasy became its first million-selling album. After signing with Republic Records for promotions in the United States in , the band released their EPs Oddinary , Maxident both , Rock-Star , and Ate ; their third studio album 5-Star ; and their first mixtape Hop These six releases peaked at number one on the US Billboard and entered the UK Albums Chart , making them the first act to debut at the top of Billboard with their first-sixth-charted albums.
In , the band appeared on Time 's list of Next Generation Leaders. JYP Entertainment did not define the band's name "Stray Kids" ' but the members conceptualized it themselves. The name originally referred to a lost child who wants to chase their dreams and evolved to represent the idea of finding a way out of the ordinary together. The company released more details in the next two months, including the show's title, Stray Kids.
Two members, Lee Know and Felix, were eliminated from the group but returned to the final, nine-member line-up. Along with the launch of Stray Kids' official website, JYPE announced the release of the group's seven-track debut extended play EP titled Mixtape , which was co-written and co-composed by the members, and includes "Hellevator" and other songs the band performed on the show.
