BANG CHAN
PROFILE
| GIVEN NAME | Christopher Chahn Bahng 방찬 (方燦) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1997-10-03 (October 3th, 1997) |
| NATIONALITY | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| MANAGEMENT | JYP Entertainment |
| GROUP | Stray Kids |
| UNIT(s) | 3RACHA |
| OFFICIAL POSITION(s) | Leader |
| DEBUT | 2018-03-25 as Stray Kids with EP I am NOT |
| MBTI | ENFJ-T |
| @gnabnahc | |
| SIGNATURE |  |
CAREER SUMMARY
PRE-DEBUT
Bang Chan was born in Seoul, moved to Australia when he was young and grew up in Sydney. His first language is English, and he speaks English with an Australian accent.
In 2010, Bang Chan auditioned for the JYP Global Auditions held in Australia and became a trainee of JYP Entertainment when he was 13 years old. He was a trainee of JYP Entertainment for 7 years before debut. He was a trainee with other JYP artists including GOT7, DAY6, AND TWICE. He appeared in the music videos for Miss A’s “Only You” and TWICE’s “Like OOH-AHH” as one of the background actors.
Bang Chan formed the hip-hop producing sub-unit 3RACHA with Changbin and Han, writing and producing their own music and putting the songs online.
In 2017, J.Y.Park, the founder and executive producer of JYP Entertainment, proposed that Bang Chan pick out his own group of trainees from the pool of JYP trainees to debut as a new boy group. The team of trainees that Bang Chan selected would train together, and would debut when and if the company (JYP Entertainment) deemed them ready. Bang Chan picked out the current members of Stray Kids, and a survival program produced by JYP Entertainment and Mnet called Stray Kids began airing in 2017. He wrote the pre-debut single “Hellevator” and all of the remix/covers for the mission performances on the show.
At the end of the 10-episode survival program, the final debut trainees of Stray Kids were finalized.
AFTER DEBUT
In 2018, Bang Chan debuted as the leader of Stray Kids, an 8-member group under JYP Entertainment, with Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N with “District 9.” Bang Chan had already been a well-known member before debut, as he had handpicked members of Stray Kids. His producing skills, as well as his experienced leadership despite his relatively young age at debut (21), have been praised.
Bang Chan continues to write and arrange almost all of the Stray Kids tracks. He is the producing powerhouse of the team. He has 182 songs listed on the Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA), the 4th-highest number out of all idols on the list.
Bang Chan has also drawn the official Stray Kids logo himself.
POSITIONS
LEADER
Bang Chan is the official leader of Stray Kids, and the eldest member of the team. JYP Entertainment had put considerable trust in his abilities, fully delegating him the responsibility of picking out the members and producing the music before debut. He also directs the members on dance, vocal, and rap during practice.
Bang Chan is a very considerate and warm-hearted leader, often emotionally supporting the younger members during the first few years of their debut. One of his nicknames given to him by fans is “Father Bang,” for his leadership skills.
Bang Chan, anybody could tell that he was the leader from a mile away.
Rado (producer) on an episode of Stray Kids (2017)
VOCAL
Bang Chan is considered as an “all-rounder”; even though he is part of the hip-hop producing line, Bang Chan also takes over many vocal parts during pre-chorus and chorus of the Stray Kids title tracks such as “MIROH” and “CASE 143.” He has a breathy, husky vocal tone, and has a wide range with skillful control. As the main producer of the team, Bang Chan has shown diversity in his singing parts. He also does a lot of doubling for the other members’ parts.
RAP
Being part of 3RACHA, a hip-hop producing unit, Bang Chan is also a skilled rapper. His rapping tones are a lot more powerful and deeper than when he sings. He has also tried the mumble rap or the melody rap genre. A lot of his rap verses are in English, as it’s his first language. His rap verses can be found in the pre-debut mixtapes.
As of 2024, Bang Chan has been steadily giving himself more vocal parts than rap parts for Stray Kids songs.
DANCE
Though he’s not part of the unofficial sub-unit DANCERACHA, Bang Chan has been praised for his dancing skills. He has had the longest training period and thus has good basics from the long years of “JYP dance style training.” Bang Chan is also very atheltic, and he gets a lot of the more acrobatic choreographies such as back handspring/tumbling and lifting other members up.