my-alter-egos

[my-alter-egos]

DOOT DOOT

doot doot?

[my-alter-egos]

“Visually they are a nightmare… Musically they are a near disaster, guitars and drums slamming out a merciless beat that does away with secondary rhythms, harmony and melody. Their lyrics… are a catastrophe, a preposterous farrago of Valentine-card romantic sentiments.” - Newsweek on The Beatles, 1964

“... so prefabricated it makes the Monkees look like the Beatles,” - Brad Wheeler, for Globe and Mail, on Stray Kids ‘DominATE’ Tour.

As they embark on the last leg of their American tour, Fourth Gen Powerhouse, Stray Kids really shows that there are “Stray Kids everywhere, all around the world.” With dedicated fans, lovingly named Stays, turning out in droves to venues all across North and South America. It’s truly something to see and take part in the revelry; watching fans perform dances from various music videos, viral TikTok challenges, and exchange freebies and photo cards at the venues, often forming in pavilions and plazas hours before the stadium doors open.

For the uninitiated, Photo Cards, shortened to PC’s, are stylized photos of idols that are given as collectables with albums or specific events. Similar to baseball cards in a memorabilia concept with fans eager to collect and trade with others to continue the flow of the Boy Paper Economy. When talking to other concert goers, they’re eager to yank out cards of their favorite members and rattle off facts about them like it’s their job to do so. It’s fun, charming, and incredibly kind as I was gifted with my very first photo card of my bias, Seo Changbin, at the concert I attended.

These pre-concert festivities are almost as important as the concert itself, giving Stays the opportunity to build and reinforce their community bonds in person, and meeting people they’ve only ever talked to online.

For many outside of East Asia, this is one of the few opportunities in the year where they will be able to meet up with other Stays and K-Pop enthusiasts, and the levels of excitement reflect that appropriately.

It's energy that’s easily palpable to the eight-piece group, watching light-sticks flicker to life as the audience erupts into cheers, as they take the stage with ‘Mountains’.

The DominATE tour and its titular album, ATE, being among the latest releases of the ever-busy group. Even while performing, Australian born leader, Bang ‘Chan’ Christopher, jokes at their stop in Arlington “They say that you can’t produce and release [while on tour]. Well, we are.” The rest of the group laugh along as the audience drowns the arena in cheers at the announcement of new music.

To describe a Stray Kids album listening experience as ‘eclectic’ wouldn’t be too far off the mark. To hear it live adds a level of exuberance and joy that can only be achieved by artists that truly enjoy being on stage and amongst their fans.

Pulling influence from Latin American beats like Reggaeton, EDM, House, African American Hip Hop, punk pop, and littered with Anime and gaming references, each release shows musical diversity and growth amongst the group and their in-house producer group, 3Racha. While the majority of their lyrics are in Korean, it doesn’t hinder international fans from connecting to the music or genre, as a whole.

The set list includes viral hits, ‘Maniac’ and ‘God’s Menu’, from previous releases, many fan favorites, and unit songs. Each member brings a different and unique element to the group, with performance duos getting to showcase those qualities even further with their own tracks. It’s a joviality and crowd work that comes from years of experience and genuine kinship between the group as a whole.

Han Jisung and Lee ‘Felix’ Yongbok are the first of these duo sets, and they truly turn it out for the crowd with their song ‘Truman’. Teasingly using homophones to bypass swearing censorship on the album, Felix’s deep weighty vocals do not hold back in singing “Coppin all that shit whenever I want it…” with a swagger that would be hard to match. Han meets him at equal standing with rhyme and rhythm that skips out of him like a man being chased, like you should expect him to fall, but he never stumbles or falters in pacing. ‘Truman’ is a dedication to not just the fans, but the hard work the pair have put into their craft.

‘Burnin’ Tires’ with Yang “I.N.” Jeong-in and Seo Changbin is a punchy anthem about running the race and competition within the idol and entertainment industry. The pair interact in an almost playful like manner, with storytelling via choreography… including a literal man-made motorcycle. I.N. brings a smooth sensuality to his vocal and dance style, fully shedding the lingering remnants of boyhood from his debut image. Changbin is the percussion and drive, moving the song forward with truly impressive syncopated and counterpoint raps. Together, the two create a set that has dynamic storytelling and playfulness in equal amounts.

The spiritual sequel to ‘Red Lights’, Bang Chan and Hwang Hyunjin reunite as a unit for ‘Escape’. If you’ve ever wondered what it would look like for a person to sprint full tilt and then launch themselves over a six-foot tall box, look no further. The juxtaposition of Hyunjin delicately jumping on to and then off of his own platform while Chan is using his jump to audition for Spiderman is truly just a little highlight to start to a provocative number, complete with a cult motif. Though both artists would deny who wrote, produced, and choreographed the necklace-in-mouth/raised-by-mystery-hands/body-roll filled number, it highlights both men in their element. With ethereal vocal flips into the head voice that steals your breath away, Chan shows vocal command and excellence that comes from years of hard work and training. Equally, watching Hyunjin dance, the combination of precision and fluidity of his body movements, is truly a feast for the eyes. While we may never truly know the - ahem- meaning of ‘Escape’, the performance truly holds you captive.

Among the few slower paced songs is ‘Cinema’ sung by Lee ‘Lino’ Minho and Kim Seungmin. For less seasoned professionals, it would be easy to lose the energy of the crowd. However, that is not the case for the duo. Seungmin has a voice that demands that you listen to him, a scorching intensity to dare you to hear every emotion he has through his singing. And if Seungmin’s voice is scorching heat, Minho’s is a soothing balm or a warm blanket, wrapping you in the comfort of his melodic voice. They aim to invite you into their moment, a freeze frame suspended in time through the power of their voices and the audiences as the last echoes of the song hum through the concert goers. The hanging silence after the sound dies out and the hushed audience is a spine tingling experience I won’t soon forget.

Though some might perceive the staged fan chants and interactions on stage as “... boring and interminable…” They lend themselves as an element of connection between the musicians and the fans, as well as a moment of reprieve on stage. It’s also a call to concert culture in South Korea, where audience participation is more focused in these interactions and less so during the performance of the songs and is not dissimilar to Western artists rallying screams, chants, and yells from their audiences.

Truthfully, it is unsurprising that journalistic viewers of Stray Kids write out of touch drivel. It goes against every instinct for white men in their 40’s to align themselves to musicians with, predominantly, female driven audiences. Instead, they drone on endlessly about ‘lost music artistry’, belittle the intelligence of the audiance, and take racially aimed jabs towards the artists themselves, like it will Make Music Great Again or whatever.

It is not often that I’m compelled to write anything but gratuitous smut, and even less so to give a rebuttal to an article that reeks of piss and stale beer, but here I am like Truth Coming Out of Her Well. Tits out and whip brandished.

To other music critics, do not see the bar placed in hell and decide to dig under it.

[my-alter-egos]

i’m gonna be bold and say that skz have the most consistent artistic message out there. rarely do they stray (pun intended) from their thing. they continue to deliver the music videos, the entertainment, dance, culture, events, and looks. they are always the full package and keep your interest. do you know how hard it is to keep that up? nothing about the level that they’ve reached is coincidence and deserves it all because god did bang chan fight like hell for this

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every single person who reblogs this

every

single

person

will get “doot doot" in their ask box

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the dumbest thing about self growth is it actually works

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tysm op this is amazing you literally made my day

shoutout to any former webkinz kids; if you need something nice to happen today (who doesn’t ) 4/29/2025 is webkinz’s 20th anniversary, and logging in today will let you adopt the twenty year tiger!

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Switching between these every day

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the whimsical boy genius has been hanging out by the monolith outside town too much and now all his charming inventions are made out of jagged black iron and animal carcasses

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in 2025 im manifesting it so every artist creates at least 1 piece that they really like 🫵🫵🫵 if you are an artist you MUST create something you find worthwhile in 2025

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you know, when i asked the universe for a sign to show me whether choosing to start a small business was the right choice, i didn't expect the universe to actually say no

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:((((((((((

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my spouse, aka captain "i hate kpop" was just spotted walking around our kitchen whistling minsung's want so bad FULL volume

i count this as a victory