Stray Kids - GO生

I. Tracklist

1. Go Live
2. 神메뉴 (God's Menu)
3. Easy
4. Pacemaker
5. 비행기 (Airplane)
6. 일상 (Another Day)
7. Phobia
8. 청사진 (Blueprint)
9. 타 (Ta)
10. Haven
11. Top
12. Slump
13. Gone Days
14. 바보라도 알아 (On Track)

II. Background

It was first revealed in STEP OUT 2020, a video sharing the group's plans for the year, that Stray Kids would release their first album in 2020.

Four of the tracks on the album, Gone Days, On Track, Top, and Slump were first released as digital singles, the former two as part of the group's "Mixtape Project" and the latter two as the opening and ending themes of the anime Tower of God.

As told in INTRO "GO生", God's Menu wasn't originally meant to be the title track. However, when the members were listening to unreleased songs together as they often do, Hyunjin came to the realisation that he wanted to perform God's Menu. Thus he asked Changbin to talk with the company to see if they could change the title track. The entire group agreed. Although they did not believe it would be possible to do at that point considering how far they were in the album making process, they gave it a try and asked the company – and to their surprise, were given the green light by JYP.

III. Creation

The Korean title of the album, GO生 is read as gosaeng, which means hardship. (Saeng also means raw.) The character 生 means life, hence the English title Go Live. These meanings relate to the core themes of the album.

The concept of the album is that it doesn't have a set concept so as to express the group's true colours through songs that were made on the spot, based on how they felt at the moment.

In an interview with grammy.com, Bang Chan said:

"I think what really inspired us to complete this album was to show what we make on the spot. […] Okay, so before, with our other [I am and Clé] series’ albums, we thought of the message we wanted to write about, and then we would write the music and sort things out. But with this album, we made everything on the spot. Whatever we wanted to say, we just made it."

IIII. God's Menu

The title of the song, just like the title of the song itself contains wordplay. 神 (신 in hangul) means god but the word shin also means new.

Bang Chan described the track as having many flavours: explosive and spicy from the beginning but also alternating between "salty" and "sweet" parts. Korean media reaffirmed his remark by naming Stray Kids as the "pioneers of the mala taste genre".

The music video was directed by Bang Jae-yeob. Several shots were filmed using a robotic arm camera.

The three settings in the video – the construction site with the scientists, the kitchen, and the race track – symbolise experimentation, creation, and a competitive mindset of always aspiring to improve.

Another common interpretation is that these visual settings also serve as an ironic jab at haters.

More trivia:

- NiziU members played the pit crew girls.

- The car racing scenes were shot at Inje Speedium.

III. Teasers

On May 27 the album was announced through a concept trailer.

May 31 – Prequel (Highlight Reel)

This video, narrated by Bang Chan, summarizes the events of Stray Kids' cinematic universe.

June 4 – UNVEIL : TRACK "GO生"

June 7 – UNVEIL : TRACK "Easy"

June 8 – UNVEIL : TRACK "TOP ("신의 탑" OST)"

June 10 – UNVEIL : TRACK "타"

June 11 – UNVEIL : TRACK "청사진"

June 13 – Cooking Video

June 14 – MV Teaser

June 15 – INTRO "GO生"

June 16 – CHAN BANG LIMITED VER.

It's a special edition of Bang Chan's weekly Vlive stream "Chan's Room". Besides the rest of Stray Kids, Sana of Twice, YoungK of Day6, and Jun.K of 2pm also dropped in as special guests. There was a snippet played from every song on the album.

IV. Awards

Seoul Music Awards – Bonsang

Asian Artist Awards – Best MV

V. Official Videos

God's Menu

Easy

청사진 (Blueprint)

타 (Ta)

Top

Gone Days

바보라도 알아

Go Live

Pacemaker

비행기 (Airplane)

일상 (Another Day)

Phobia

Haven

Slump

VI. Repackage

The album was later repackaged as IN生 / In Life.