Christopher Chahn Bahng (born 3 October 1997), known professionally as Bang Chan (), is an Australian singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer based in South Korea. Signed to JYP Entertainment, he is the leader of the South Korean boy band Stray Kids and a member of 3Racha, an in-house production team and sub-unit of Stray Kids.
Bang Chan played a pivotal role in forming Stray Kids by selecting trainees, naming the group, and designing its logo. The survival show Stray Kids documented this process, focusing on whether Bang Chan's team would debut together, in contrast to typical survival shows where agency management determines the lineup.
Since February 2023, he has been a full member of the Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA). Beyond creating music for Stray Kids, he has composed for TV series like Pop Out Boy!, Tower of God, and Re:Revenge – In the End of Desire, as well as films including Doraemon: Nobita's Sky Utopia and Deadpool & Wolverine. Bang Chan has also written songs for artists such as JO1, Yao Chen, and Show Lo, and collaborated with Alesso, Sky-Hi, Tiger JK, Lil Durk, and Japanese singer Lisa.
Early life and education Christopher Chahn Bahng was born on 3 October 1997 and grew up in Sydney, Australia. Bang Chan is the first of three children, and the elder brother of independent musician and YouTuber, Hannah Bahng.
He is proficient in English and Korean. He attended Newtown High School of the Performing Arts, where he trained in ballet and modern dance and was a member of the school choir. Additionally, he was a competitive swimmer, often winning medals for his performances, and a classically trained pianist, having taken lessons since the age of five.
At the age of 13, he passed the 2010 JYP Entertainment Global Audition held in Australia and moved to South Korea to become a trainee. He graduated from Chungdam High School majoring in music and acting.
Career 2010–2018: Pre-debut, forming 3Racha, and survival show Bang Chan was a trainee for 7 years under JYP Entertainment and trained alongside members of Twice, Got7, and Day6. During his traineeship, Bang Chan made cameo appearances in music videos for other JYP Entertainment artists, including a café customer in Miss A's "Only You" and a zombie in Twice's debut, "Like Ooh-Ahh".
Bang Chan met future bandmates Han and Changbin while taking MIDI classes and together in 2016, they formed a hip-hop group called 3Racha. At this time, Bang Chan was using the pseudonym CB97. They uploaded their first mixtape, J:/2017/mixtape to SoundCloud in January 2017.
In late 2017, JYP Entertainment announced a new survival show called Stray Kids, in collaboration with Mnet, and Bang Chan was announced as a participant. He was granted the opportunity to choose his own team of trainees to prepare for debut. Alongside weekly missions, he worked closely with the group on their branding and even designed the Stray Kids logo. Additionally, he was praised for his leadership and dedication during the survival show.
In early 2018, he, along with the other Stray Kids members, released their first pre-debut album, EP Mixtape, featuring the group's self-composed songs from the survival show.
2018–present: debut, Stray Kids, and sub-unit & solo activities
Bang Chan officially debuted as the leader of Stray Kids on 25 March 2018, with the stage name Bang Chan. His roles in the group include singing, rapping, and dancing. In 2019, as part of the group's first variety show, Finding SKZ, the group travelled to Australia, where Bang Chan helped organise activities to introduce his bandmates to the culture of his homeland.
In August 2021, Bang Chan performed a cover of Day6's "I'll Try" with bandmates I.N and Seungmin on Weekly Idol.
Bang Chan and Hyunjin's first collaborative sub-unit track together, "Red Lights", was included in Stray Kids' second studio album, NoEasy. Debuting at number 30 on the Circle Download Chart, the track went on to become one of the group's top 20 most-streamed songs. He also participated in the soft rock unit track "Waiting For Us" alongside Lee Know, Seungmin, and I.N, which was part of the Oddinary EP, released on 18 March 2022. Upon its release, the track debuted at number 25 on the Circle Download Chart for the week of 13–19 March 2022.
SKZ-Record/Replay and solo music Bang Chan has showcased solo work through Stray Kids' SKZ-Record and SKZ-Replay platforms. On 16 May 2020, he featured on Changbin's track "Streetlight", and later released the self-composed solo track "I Hate to Admit" on 29 May, through the SKZ-Record series. The release highlighted Bang Chan's introspective songwriting and personal lyrical style.
On 15 January 2021, Bang Chan was featured on I.N's solo song "Maknae on Top" alongside Changbin. On 27 June, he collaborated with Twice's Tzuyu on a cover of Taylor Swift's "Me!", released as part of Twice's Melody Project series. In July, Bang Chan with bandmate Lee Know released "Drive", a self-composed and self-produced song featured on their album SKZ-Replay. The following month, he performed the unreleased track "Yeah" at KCON LA with Han and Changbin for a special stage, the song was also co-written and produced by him.
In addition to his solo activities, Bang Chan has contributed to various unit and group tracks. He collaborated with Changbin and Han on "Zone" for the SKZ-Replay album, released on 21 December. In the same album, he also released his self-composed solo track "Connected".
Furthermore, Bang Chan co-wrote and co-composed the song "3Racha", Stray Kids' first exploration of the drill genre, which received critical acclaim. The track debuted at number 36 on the Circle Download Chart for the week of 2–8 October 2022, and was later ranked 14th on NMEs year-end list. That same year, as part of 3Racha, he co-wrote, composed, and performed "Heyday" for the Street Man Fighter soundtrack.
Bang Chan further explored solo artistry during the 5-Star Dome Tour in 2023, performing his then-unreleased song "Baby" at Tokyo Dome. In March 2024, he released the music video for his English single "Eternity", which featured his pet dog, Berry. In the same year, he also worked as the vocal arranger for the JYP-produced single "Like Magic", created for Coca-Cola's K-Wave campaign. In September, during the Dominate tour, Bang Chan revealed and performed his unreleased solo song titled "Railway". The song was later included in the Hop album and officially released on December 13.
In April 2025, Bang Chan was one of several artists to appear on Astro's special release, "Moon: Memory of the Moon" (꿈속의 문), a tribute released to commemorate the second anniversary of Moonbin's death. It peaked at number 4 on the World Digital Song Sales chart. In behind the scenes footage from session recordings, Bang Chan said of his late friend, "I guess I never told you properly... thank you, and I miss you."
On SKZ-REPLAY 2026 PT 1, Bang Chan had two solo tracks: Roman Empire, which was previously released in 2025 in collaboration with fashion brand Fendi which Bang Chan serves as an ambassador for, and Baby, his Tokyo Dome Tour performance track. In addition, he wrote one of fellow member Seungmin's tracks, "Goodbye".
Songwriting and production
Bang Chan along with bandmates Han and Changbin, writes and produces most of the group's music. In addition to his work with Stray Kids, he has also written and produced for other artists, contributing to various projects outside the group, demonstrating his skills as a songwriter and producer. He has written or produced for artists and groups including NiziU, JO1, Sky-Hi, and Show Lo. Bang Chan contributed to the songwriting and composition of Taiwanese singer Show Lo's track "我的世代 (Wo De Shi Dai)" from his full-length album No Idea, released in 2019, marking his first notable collaboration outside of Stray Kids.
In April 2020, Stray Kids contributed to the soundtrack for the first season of the anime adaptation of Tower of God. Bang Chan co-wrote the opening theme "Top" and the ending theme "Slump", with him co-producing "Top" and solely producing "Slump". The single "Top" reached the top of the Oricon daily single rankings and dominated Tower Records' daily sales rankings on its release date, with all three versions securing the top three positions. In December, Bang Chan, as part of the producing team 3Racha, composed the solo song "Nevermind" for Yao Chen, a member of the Chinese boy group R1SE. The track became popular, topping the daily popularity chart on QQ Music for 16 consecutive days.
Expanding his contributions, in February 2022, Bang Chan co-wrote and featured on the song "Just Breathe" in collaboration with Japanese rapper Sky-Hi. He and the other 3Racha members were awarded Best Hip Hop Video at the MTV VMAs Japan 2022 for their work on the track. Notably, in March, the same year, Bang Chan co-wrote and produced the song "YOLO-konde" for the Japanese global boy band JO1. The track was created as a theme song to support JO1 and their fans. In February 2023, Bang Chan, Changbin, and Han were promoted to regular members of KOMCA. As of August 2026, he has 243 songs registered to his name, the most among K-pop idols.
In addition, Bang Chan contributed to major film soundtracks, starting in early 2023 when he, along with Han and Changbin, was approached to write and produce "Paradise" for NiziU's 5th single, which became the theme song for Doraemon: Nobita's Sky Utopia. The song was also used as the ending theme for the Doraemon television series. Continuing his work in television, Bang Chan participated in writing and producing the song "Why?" for the Fuji TV drama Re:Revenge- In the End of Desire, alongside 3Racha. Released on 12 April 2024, the track marked Stray Kids' first theme song for a Japanese drama.
Expanding into film soundtracks, in July, he co-wrote and co-produced the song "Slash" for the soundtrack of the Marvel film Deadpool & Wolverine, marking his first work for a Hollywood film.
Hosting and MC roles In 2018, Bang Chan was a guest host twice on After School Club, co-hosting with Jimin on 12 June and as a special host on 17 July, when Day6's Jae graduated from the show. On 27 October 2018, he appeared as a special MC on Show! Music Core.
In August 2021, after the band came to the actor's attention for their Deadpool-inspired performance during the third round of Kingdom: Legendary War, Bang Chan interviewed Ryan Reynolds for Naver TV as part of promotions for the film Free Guy. Bang Chan served as the MC for KCON LA in August 2022, and returned as MC in 2023, hosting the third day. In December 2023, Bang Chan served as a special judge on Nizi Project Season 2.
In July 2024, Bang Chan and Felix hosted a radio series titled All About Stray Kids Radio on Apple Music. The four-episode series featured discussions about their interests, hobbies, and behind-the-scenes stories from album production, with guest appearances from other Stray Kids members. The show aired live on Apple Music Radio, with episodes also available on Apple Podcasts. During the same month, Bang Chan and Felix also interviewed Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman at a press conference for Deadpool & Wolverine in Seoul, South Korea, as part of a promotional event for Marvel Korea.
Artistry