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Stray Kids KARMA: Fate, CEREMONY and a Seventh No. 1

Published: 2026-11-04

• Category: Album guide
• Artist: Stray Kids

KPOP NO1 Editorial · Sources checked November 4, 2026

Some people say fate is simply handed to you. JYP Entertainment's notes for KARMA answer that with Stray Kids: a group that has spent years carving out its own fate, one hard day at a time. The fourth full album came out on August 22, 2025, with CEREMONY as its title track. In JYP's words, it's the moment the group finally celebrates itself.

It's also a big record in numbers. KARMA has eleven tracks, every one worked on by the group's producing team, 3RACHA. Here's how the album is built, what the members say about its songs, and which official videos to open.

BLEEP, CREED, MESS and the rest

JYP lists the songs after CEREMONY: 삐처리 (BLEEP), CREED, 엉망 (MESS), In My Head, 반전 (Half Time), Phoenix, Ghost and 0801, plus the two extra CEREMONY versions. According to JYP, the songs differ in genre and mood but share the same attitude: being Stray Kids.

The members' comments give each one a clear job:
- BLEEP opens the album. It's a hip-hop track with a cinematic feel and a boom-bap rhythm. The message is to block out the negative noise, ignore criticism and interference, and keep growing.
- CREED is about strong belief. Over a dark trap hip-hop beat, the members promise to say what they believe, do what they say, and keep to their own road without wavering.
- MESS is an emo hip-hop track with rough guitar and blunt lyrics about the regret and conflict left after a breakup. HAN and Bang Chan wrote it.

The studio side is on the official channel too. In February 2026, Stray Kids posted a recording video covering 반전 (Half Time), BLEEP and In My Head.

0801, the song for STAY

The album ends its original songs with 0801. JYP describes it as a song that warmly captures the group's connection with STAY, its fans.

Our reading: the number looks like a date. The fandom's name was officially announced on August 1, 2018, according to Korea Daily's report on the name's seventh anniversary. JYP's notes don't explain the title, so take this as a clue to check, not an official meaning. Does knowing the date change how you hear it?

STAY also has a part in the title track. Stray Kids' channel posted the official CEREMONY (Feat. STAY) Guide Video on release day.

Archival photo: Stray Kids at the 40th Golden Disc Awards, January 10, 2026, about five months after KARMA. Credit: K-POPIT 케이팝잇, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Linked from Wikimedia Commons at a smaller size; no other edits by KPOP NO.1.

The tour around it, and a seventh No. 1

KARMA arrived just after the group's biggest tour. JYP says Stray Kids World Tour ran to 54 shows in 34 regions and ended in Rome on July 30, 2025. Over 341 days it crossed Asia, Oceania, Latin America, North America and Europe. According to JYP, 27 of the tour's 34 venues were stadiums the group was playing for the first time.

Then came the chart result. Yonhap reported, via The Korea Times, that KARMA debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the group's seventh No. 1 on that chart. Of its 313,000 units, 296,000 came from physical album sales, the most in the group's history. The report adds that Stray Kids became the only act in Billboard history to see all seven of its albums debut at No. 1 on that chart. The Korea Times on KARMA's Billboard 200 debut, September 2025

JYP's notes list other milestones from the same period. Stray Kids became the third K-pop artist whose official YouTube channel passed 20 million subscribers. With the MEGAVERSE and CHEESE music videos passing 100 million views, the group had 17 videos over that mark, the most of any fourth-generation K-pop boy group, according to JYP. The notes also mention awards in 2025, including K-pop Album of the Year at the iHeartRadio Music Awards for a second year in a row.

The choreography is on the official channel. The CEREMONY dance practice video went up on August 26, 2025.

Official KARMA videos

Dates are the YouTube publication dates in Korean time.

Keep exploring

Want to see where the No. 1 run started? The ODDINARY guide covers the 2022 mini album and MANIAC.

New to the group? The Stray Kids starter guide introduces the eight members.

Curious about the fans behind 0801? The STAY fandom guide explains the name, STAYweeK and the fan meetings.