On June 17, 2020, Stray Kids released their first full-length album, GO生, and the music video for “神메뉴 (God’s Menu).” Leading up to the album’s release, JYP Entertainment released a teaser and five performance videos on their YouTube channel featuring different tracks off of GO生, showing Stays what genres they could expect from the album. 3RACHA had a hand in every song, with Bang Chan, Han, and Changbin working together and individually on the lyrics and music. Bang Chan was also involved in the arrangements for tracks “일상 (Another Day),” “Haven,” “TOP,” and “SLUMP.” 

The Music Videos

Ahead of the album’s release, singles “Mixtape: Gone Days” and “Mixtape: 바보라도 알아 (On Track)” were released along with music videos on December 26, 2019 and March 25, 2020 respectively. The video for “Mixtape: Gone Days” features the eight members hanging around a man wearing a horse mask as they sing about the differences between their parents’ generation and theirs, the main message being that just because their parents did things one way doesn’t mean they have to follow suit. The video for “Mixtape: 바보라도 알아 (On Track)” is very different though, centering around a love triangle between members Lee Know and Hyunjin as they both deal with their crushes on the same girl, the lead actress in a video project they’re doing for school.

“神메뉴 (God’s Menu)” is a sharp departure from the two mixtape tracks in terms of genre and music video. While “Mixtape: Gone Days” and “Mixtape: 바보라도 알아 (On Track)” were more vocally-focused pop tracks, “神메뉴 (God’s Menu)” is an in-your-face, aggressive hip-hop track with some EDM elements. While the repeated line of “DU DU DU DU DU DU” in the chorus may be one of the most popular, it’s Felix’s lines that really steal the show, most notably, “Cookin’ like a chef, I’m a five star Michelin.” The lyrics state that whatever the boys create, they’ll cook it up and serve it in their own special way, steering from what other groups may be releasing. The music video ends with them walking through the “back door,” hinting at the music video for their repackage album.

“Easy” is a trap-infused track with the boys commenting on how they make everything look “easy.” Released almost a month after the album and “神메뉴 (God’s Menu),” the music video focuses mostly on the choreography. There’s no real plot to the video, with the members each showing off certain things they can do and make look easy. There is a heavy emphasis on rap verses over vocal lines, but the eight members all get their time to shine.

The Comeback Performances

Stray Kids had their first comeback performances on M!COUNTDOWN on June 18, 2020, where they performed “TOP” and “神메뉴 (God’s Menu).” For the performance of “TOP,” the members all wore black tops with black jeans on a simple stage. The only actual decorations are featured on the large screens behind them, which seem to reference the anime Tower Of God, which “TOP” is the opening theme song for. The image is static during the verses, minus some color changing effects, but as soon as I.N delivers the line, “Go up!” before the chorus, the image changes to look as though they’re ascending the inside of the tower. Sometimes stage design can take away from a performance, but not this time. Because everything is so simple in terms of design, it really makes you pay attention to the choreography. 

The performance for “神메뉴 (God’s Menu)” had a bit more in terms of stage design, but still not to a point where it took away from the members. Featuring bright red lights on metal fencing and chef’s doors in the background, the background was reminiscent of scenes from the music video. To match the main lighting for their comeback stage, the members wore black and red outfits from the music video. During the choruses, sparklers went off at the back of the stage and at the first “DU DU DU DU DU DU” before the last chorus, confetti was shot out of cannons towards the boys.

The comeback performance for “Easy” also happened on M!COUNTDOWN on July 9, 2020. While not fit for broadcast on KBS due to the lyrics featuring slang words and rude expressions, the M!COUNTDOWN performance stuck with the original lyrics. This performance of “Easy” kept with red and black theme from the album and “神메뉴 (God’s Menu)” while also introducing oranges, yellows, and gold, making it seem like the song and the stage were on fire. And while lip syncing isn’t in Stray Kids’ vocabulary, Seungmin’s vocals are especially amazing in this performance.

The Legacy

GO生 debuted at No. 1 on the Gaon Weekly Albums Chart and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard U.S. Heatseekers Albums Chart, No. 4 on the Billboard U.S. World Albums Chart, No. 5 on the Gaon Monthly Albums Chart, and No. 29 on the Billboard U.S. Independent Albums Chart, making this the best performing Stray Kids release. In August 2020, the album was certified Platinum by Gaon Chart, making it their first album to do so. “神메뉴 (God’s Menu)” debuted and peaked at No. 144 on the Gaon Weekly Download Chart. This was their first single to appear on the chart and their first track to appear on a main category of a digital Gaon chart.

“TOP” and “SLUMP” were recorded in Korean, Japanese, and English for the anime adaptation of the Tower Of God manhwa, with the three different versions playing depending on which language you’re watching the anime. Three months after its release, GO生 was repackaged as IN生, featuring eight additional tracks, including title track “Back Door.”

While “神메뉴 (God’s Menu)” didn’t take home any music show wins, the music video is their most popular on YouTube and currently sits at 165 million views, with “Back Door” coming in at second with 109 million and “MIROH” in third with 105 million. “神메뉴 (God’s Menu)” is also their first music video to reach 100 million views and made Stray Kids the fastest fourth generation boy group to reach that milestone, doing so in 71 days.

Unfortunately, “神메뉴 (God’s Menu)” and GO生 were not nominated for any end-of-year awards shows, though we here at The Kraze can’t stop ourselves from singing, “DU DU DU DU DU DU!” whenever “神메뉴(God’s Menu)” comes on shuffle and we think that line alone is award-worthy.