K-pop boy band Stray Kids dropped their fourth full-length album on Friday (Aug. 22), KARMA, the 11-track follow-up to December’s Hop mixtape. The collection produced entirely by the group’s production team 3RACHA, opens with the yearning, hard-hitting rap-popper “Bleep” followed by the bouncy hip-pop single “Ceremony.”
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The accompanying high-gloss video finds members Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin and I.N kitting up for a variety of extreme sports challenges in a futuristic landscape. From Changbin dropping hard-hitting rhymes in the middle of an MMA octagon — “We’re moving forward with maximum power/ And we’re gonna dominate, pop it/ Making headlines, big news topic/ My experience points are my countless trophies” — to a Mario Kart-esque race to grab an elusive black ball in a raucous arena and American football players trying to tackle Han as he casually dribbles a soccer ball between them, the visual is full of extreme sports action.
Add in some physically impossible break dancing moves, a gravity defying baseball bat swing and other feats of sports superiority and you have… well, a surprise twist at the end that you didn’t see coming.
According to a release announcing the LP, the collection tells a story about destiny from a unique Stray Kids perspective. “Destiny is shaped by a tangled web of choices and consequences,” it explains. “KARMA begins with this very idea — an attempt to interpret Stray Kids’ fate. Despite countless external judgments and inner conflicts, they have continued to forge their own path with unwavering resolve. Through their music, Stray Kids represent a story of growth.”
Other tracks on the album include the skittery trap R&B banger “Creed,” tear-stained ballad “Mess,” old school, whistle-enhanced baile funk bouncer “Half Time,” EDM jam “Phoenix” and two additional versions of “Ceremony,” a live-sounding “Festival” version and an English version.
The group recently completed its largest-ever world tour, Stray Kids World Tour <dominATE>, which brought 54 shows to 34 regions across the world on five continents over 341 days, wrapping up on July 30th in Rome.
Watch the “Ceremony” video and listen to KARMA below.
