Christopher Chahn Bahng (born 3 October 1997), known professionally as Bang Chan (Korean: 방찬), 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 who aligned with his vision, naming the group, and designing their 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 and, as of February 2025, has songwriting credits for 208 songs. 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 in Seoul, South Korea and raised in Sydney, Australia. Bang Chan is the first of three children, and the elder brother of independent musician and YouTuber, Hannah Bahng.
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.
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 actively showcased his 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 his self-composed solo track "I Hate to Admit" on 29 May, through the SKZ-Record series. This song highlighted his introspective songwriting and personal lyrical style.
On 15 January 2021, Bang Chan was featured in 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 and his bandmate Lee Know released "Drive", a self-composed and self-produced song featured on their album SKZ-Replay. In August 2022, he performed the unreleased track "Yeah" at KCON LA with Han and Changbin for a special stage, a song he co-wrote and produced.
In addition to his solo ventures, Bang Chan has contributed to various unit and group tracks. He collaborated with Changbin and Han on the song "Zone" for the SKZ-Replay album, released on 21 December. In the same album, he also released his self-composed solo track "Connected", which reflects his interpretation of a fateful connection.
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 NME's 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 continued to explore his solo artistry during the 5-Star Dome Tour in 2023, performing his 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.
