On August 12, 2023, Stray Kids member Seungmin surprised fans with a deeply moving solo track titled “Hold On”, released through the SKZ‑RECORD series. This project, launched in early 2021, lets members explore musical side projects outside official group albums.
The song’s lyrics were written entirely by HAN (Jisung of 3RACHA), who was also credited as co‑composer along with Bang Chan and producer VERSACHOI, while arrangements were handled by Bang Chan, VERSACHOI, and Nickko Young.
The track was inspired by an intimate conversation between HAN and Seungmin during a shoot. The singer revealed that he told HAN how much he loves dogs and how he fears the pain of eventually parting ways. He recounted, “I feel like the world will fall apart when the time to part ways comes… I feel like I won’t be able to handle it.”
HAN then stayed up through the night after his schedule to write and record the demo, sending it to Seungmin the next morning, saying he’d poured everything into it until sunrise.
Seungmin described the song as emotionally heavy to sing, calling it “a precious gift from our team’s genius producers.” He hoped that it could bring comfort and happiness to pet owners around the world.”
Seungmin delivered with gentle vocals over a melodic ballad structure, roughly 3 minutes and 30 seconds long.
On the work front, Stray Kids released their most successful album to date, 5-STAR, in June. The album topped Billboard’s main album chart and sold nearly 5 million copies in the first week alone. Members have also launched their personal Instagram accounts as part of STAYweek.
Next, Stray Kids is set to perform at Fukuoka (August 16-17), Nagoya (September 2-3), Osaka (September 9-10), Seoul (October 21-22), and Tokyo (October 28-29).
