'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQF/8QAFAEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA//aAAwDAQACEAMQAAAA1rAG/8QAHxAAAQQBBQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAwECBAYABRIjMlJi/9oACAEBAAE/AIlTqUcrij0OKIwZTRI8Y17KLf6+sBUagUAyEr0FXvajl4c//8QAFBEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP/aAAgBAgEBPwB//8QAFREBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABH/2gAIAQMBAT8Ar//Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
On Sunday, May 25, The Seattle Times published an article on Stray Kids' recent concert at T-Mobile Park in Seattle as part of their ongoing DominATE World Tour. However, many fans and netizens were unhappy with the article as they criticized its alleged disrespectful and xenophobic tone towards the K-pop boy group.
Trending
The article talked about how K-pop was a growing industry, particularly popular among the Gen Z crowd, and also stated that Stray Kids were made to appeal to the TikTok Generation's attention span. The writer, Owen R. Smith, also compared this attention span to the amount of spotlight that the individual members got during the concert.
"K-pop might not be quite as ubiquitous as American pop music, but it's growing fast and is incredibly popular with Gen Zers. Stray Kids in particular were practically grown in a lab to appeal to Generation TikTok's anemic attention spans. With eight members, the pace of each song performed on Saturday was frenetic, as the performers traded the spotlight constantly, each getting their literal 15 seconds of fame at a time — often not even that long," the article read.
Many felt that the article held condescending tones underneath the sentences. Fans also expressed that they felt the article showcased very little research on Stray Kids or K-pop in general. Additionally, in another part of the article, the writer also mentioned that the group's songs sounded like one big hook, which angered and frustrated several fans.
"Despite their popularity, talent and undeniable aura, eight members really is a lot to balance, and the end result was that a lot of Stray Kids' songs felt like an all-out assault on the senses. At times, it also raised the question: If an entire song is a hook, does it even have one?" the article read.
Subsequently, fans took to X, formerly Twitter, to express their reactions regarding The Seattle Times' recent allegedly disrespectful article about Stray Kids.
"owen r. smith never f*cking write again. this screams xenophobia, demeaning, lack of research, and condescending. [The Seattle Times] what is this joke of an article?" one fan tweeted.
Several other comments, similar in tone, also poured in.
"What a shameful article! I've never read something like that. It seems like the person who wrote it didn't even try to research anything about the group. There are so many lies and absurd statements here that it shocked me. [The Seattle Times] should be ashamed to post this," said a fan on X.
"the only thanks I could give is that you wrote about them, too bad the writing shows the journalist has no understanding of kpop, Stray Kids or the fans they have - what a disappointment," added another fan.
"what on earth is this? seriously? this article completely disrespects stray kids as a group and as artists- it's clear that whoever wrote this must quite dislike them, maybe even k-pop as a whole," commented another fan.
More fans and netizens criticized the writer of The Seattle Times' article about Stray Kids for its alleged disrespectful tone.
"So ignorant, xenophobic and poorly written. Why would you even publish this," stated a fan.
"yeah this is definitely not xenophobic or condescending in any wahy," added an X user.
"as someone who went to school and got a degree in media studies and a minor in journalism, there is a lot wrong with this piece ETHICALLY," said a netizen.
"Try studying K-pop as a genre and cultural movement—not through an Americanized lens. Your passive-aggressive tone isn't analysis. It's bias in disguise," commented another X user.
All you need to know about Stray Kids and their recent activities
Stray Kids is a K-pop boy group that debuted under JYP Entertainment in 2017 through the reality show organized by the agency under the same name as the group. The eight-piece boy group consists of the members Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N., with Bang Chan acting as the leader.
Following their debut, the group soon began to garner attention for their unique music releases and powerful performances. Some of their famous tracks include God's Menu, Thunderous, MANIAC, S-Class, CASE 143, Back Door, MIROH, etc. Most recently, in December 2024, the group rolled out their mixtape, HOP, which had the song Walkin on Water as its lead single.
The band also released two soundtracks, Slash for Deadpool & Wolverine and Come Play with Young Miko and Tom Morello for Arcane. In February 2025, they held their fifth fan meeting called SKZ 5'Clock for three days at the Inspire Arena. Additionally, in March, they rolled out a single album called Mixtape: Dominate.
Currently, Stray Kids has been touring in the United States as part of their DominATE World Tour.
