Welcome to the 68th article of Kpopmap's weekly series exploring the amazing duality of K-Pop idols, actors, models, and more! Every week, we shine the spotlight on one artist who embodies the very essence of duality and has mastered the flair of harnessing their multifaceted talent to create the most brilliant, versatile art we have ever seen. As effortless as they make their craft look, there's a universe of talent that brings their hard work to fruition, and we must show appreciation where it's due.

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This week's "Bias Duality" article is dedicated to the remarkable artist whose incomparable sound changed the course of K-Pop - Stray Kids' Felix! With 92,905 votes making for 74.4% of the total votes cast by Kpopmap readers on the poll in our previous "Bias Duality" article, Felix was chosen by an overwhelming majority of fans to appear on this series!

To participate in choosing the artist who will be featured in our next "Bias Duality" article, you can vote for your favourite idol/actor below! If you would like to see a different idol/actor (one who is not mentioned in the poll) featured in the series, please leave their name in the comments section, and we will add them to the vote lineup next time!

Now onto our bias!

Lightning In A Bottle: Felix's Evolution & Personal Duality

What's in a name, you ask? Pure, unadulterated, heaven-sent happiness. The star of our article today, Stray Kids' Felix, embodies the very essence of eternal euphoria. From his English name, which quite literally translates to “happy” to his nickname “HaengBok” (deriving from his Korean name “YongBok”) which also means “happy”, this man right here is sunshine personified.

Felix first stepped into the entertainment industry with the survival reality show “Stray Kids” which created the K-Pop boy group of the same name. After many trials and tribulations, Felix became a part of the final lineup and soon debuted as a member of Stray Kids. The group’s debut was met with an overwhelmingly positive response, both critically and commercially, owing to their genre-defining sound and distinct artistic identity that helped them go global sooner than most.

It was the soul of resistance and change that Stray Kids epitomized that gave them such a boost right from the get-go, but it was also the uniqueness of each member that endeared them to fans all over the world. As a matter of fact, it was through Stray Kids that a whole new generation of K-Pop fans emerged, popularizing the genre even more.

In this regard, Felix played an extremely important role. It is no surprise that Felix is widely known as the idol with the deep voice. Even leader Bang Chan himself mentioned proudly that Felix’s special voice is exactly what makes Stray Kids’ music what it is. In fact, Felix is actually the “gateway idol” for many fans who discovered the world of K-Pop because they were so utterly fascinated by Felix’s duality, and this duality manifests itself not only in Felix’s voice and stage presence but also in his personality.

When it comes to Felix as a person and the myriad shades of his individuality, we could wax lyrical all day. Contrary to his fierce and intimidating image as an idol, his personality is made of sugar, spice, and everything nice. He is a genuinely kind, warm-hearted, gentle, and soft person who might as well be the dictionary definition of “best boy”.

Felix is the type of person who is inherently wired to see the good in everyone and views the world through a lens of innocent purity. He is Stray Kids’ biggest hype man but also gains confidence from his members in return. He doesn’t hesitate to ask for reassurance or cuddles and loves to express his affection through physical touch. Comforting his members brings him strength and energy, and that alone is telling of how dear they are to him.

Among his other love languages are gift-giving and acts of service. Regardless of how packed his schedule is, Felix always finds time to bake brownies for his boys as well as the staff members. After all, he thrives on making others happy, especially his loved ones. In fact, he is quite proud of how well he takes care of them - whether that be listening to their concerns and giving them the best advice, being attentive to their needs, or planning heart-warming events on special days.

Just like he appreciates it when someone shows interest in him, he also leaves no stone unturned in making people feel seen or heard. Even his fellow "KINGDOM: LEGENDARY WAR" contestants couldn't stop gushing over him!

Felix’s thoughtfulness doesn’t just stop at his members or staff. He is immensely considerate towards anyone and everyone around him without expecting anything in return, which has earned him high praise in the industry. Who can forget the viral moment when Felix removed confetti from MAMAMOO’s HwaSa’s shoulder without her knowing? It’s simple things like these that remind us that chivalry is definitely not dead.

Felix also carries this mindful consideration over to STAY. From taking us on little walks through his vlogs to comforting us even when he is having a hard day, Felix brings us happiness beyond measure. He is STAY's safe space who we will always hold dear and protect no matter what.

Felix can be both the baby and the baby-er, depending on the member we’re talking about. One second, he could be clinging to Lee Know, and the next, he is letting I.N have his “maknae on top” moment. Sometimes, he lets his intrusive thoughts win, and other times, his intrusive thoughts let him win. Either way, the only ones constantly winning are STAY.

Now, speaking of Felix’s personal duality, it is most often seen in moments of complete honesty and vulnerability. Felix is known for being fun-loving and playful - someone who isn’t afraid to be a little silly now and then. However, under that surface lies a deeply introspective, mature, and disciplined individual. Felix takes working hard to almost an extreme, with how dedicated he is to his art, and thus, brings an air of effortlessness to the same.

Felix is simultaneously talkative but also quiet, carefree but focused, and appears free-spirited but secretly deals with a lot of worries - to silence and forget which, he chooses to play games. Even his members have noticed that Felix is someone who tends to think a lot, and he admitted that he even talks to himself sometimes to organize those thoughts.

Felix enjoys having serious, contemplative conversations, which usually end in cuddle sessions with his members because he can be easily overwhelmed by his emotions. At the same time, he is also practical, logical, and, unfortunately, at times, self-critical. However, his members are always there by his side, and that is the beauty of Stray Kids’ brotherhood.

Besides this adorable side of Felix that we all love, there’s also the sassy and savage side of him that we just can’t get enough of. The man doesn’t hold back from a little eye roll, and we love to see it! He can have the members laughing one second and flustered the next.

Similarly, you might think that Felix has mastered the art of aegyo, but in reality, he feels awkward showing it off. However, because his personality itself is bubbling with aegyo, he doesn’t really need to try in the first place! He found out about his natural aegyo from his members and, in this respect, trusts their perception of him more than himself.

When all is said and done, Felix is driven by a simple desire to do well. He is a complex, multifaceted human being with depth and dimension, and words will never be enough to capture his duality. Yet, as long as we have language at our disposal, we will keep praising him endlessly.

The Voice That Invented Duality - Felix's Vocal Duality

The first kind of duality that people usually notice about Felix, perhaps even before his personality, is his vocal duality. Now, while the most obvious binary here is that between his naturally deep voice and his higher-pitched baby voice, there’s also a clear contrast between his rap voice and his singing voice.

It is a commonly known fact that Felix’s voice goes several pitches higher when he is excited or is being mischievous. Anyone can spot how wildly this voice is different from his normal voice. For instance, Felix’s unforgettable “Wakey Wakey” as opposed to his “Dispatch D-I-S-P-A-T-C-H Dispatch” is still an unbelievable duality to wrap our heads around. However, for this article, we will be focusing on the range of vocal and rap techniques that Felix boasts of.

For starters, Felix is easily one of the most unique and inimitable rappers in the Korean entertainment industry, and not all of that title is attributed to his voice. His rap forms the core of Stray Kids’ music, and rather than the common belief that Felix gets all the “iconic” parts, it is Felix himself who makes his parts iconic time and time again. He pumps the song with bass (‘Victory Song’, ‘3rd Eye’), maintaining a uniform, low-pitched tone that is much harder to execute than it looks or, to put it more precisely, than Felix makes it look.

Alternatively, he sometimes turns it an octave or two higher (‘Maze Of Memories’, ‘Sunshine’) for a lighter and speedier approach, carried by energy rather than the sheer power that drives his slower verses. He also experiments with flow, going from uniformity (‘Domino’, ‘Double Knot’, ‘Case 143’) to a subtle syncopated rhythm (‘Silent Cry’, ‘TMT’, ‘Venom’), and he perfectly delivers in both cases.

Next, to demonstrate the most stellar vocal duality we’ve ever seen, we’re calling to the stage, Felix’s singing voice! Felix can go from the Duke of Hell to an angel from above as he switches from rap to singing, song to song. One would think that for someone with such a definite deep voice, it must be hard to emote. However, for Felix, it is his greatest strength.

Felix can effectively bring to light even the most nuanced emotions in a song - whether that be smug confidence (‘Thunderous’), summery freshness (Felix’s performance of SSAK3’s ‘In Summer’), heartbreaking pain (Felix’s cover of Finneas’ ‘Break My Heart Again’), fiery passion (‘Glow’), heart-fluttering sweetness ('Because'), pure innocence (‘Hero’s Soup’), nonchalance (‘Chill’) and so on and so forth. Now, this versatility should qualify as the 8th wonder of the world!

Range That Makes Us Question Reality - Felix's Stage Duality

Felix’s stage persona, which in and of itself is in contrast with his real-life personality, is another playground for Felix’s duality to come out and play. We’ll call this the double duality! One doesn’t need to be a STAY to spot the differences between Felix’s on and off-stage presence. However, if we look deeper into Felix’s artistry through the medium of dance and facial expressions as well as conceptual changes, an even richer duality will reveal itself to us.

Member of Stray Kids’ DANCERACHA, Felix is one of the finest dancers in the group as well as in the industry. There’s just a certain flair, an enchantment to his dancing that puts us in a trance every time we’re blessed enough to witness it. The immense level of perfection that Felix holds himself up to shows in his performance.

Felix maintains an air of composed charisma whenever he is on stage, which is often undercut by bold declarations of diverse charms. His exceptional sense of control, immaculate mastery of choreography regardless of genre, and sheer elegance in every move - all contribute to the outstanding performer that he is.

No matter the concept, Felix knows exactly how to own it, which is what makes him stand out. However, he knows the art of performance all too well to take away from the group’s spotlight. Instead, his magnificence enhances Stray Kids’ power on stage.

To further illustrate Felix’s stage duality, let’s take a look at some of his most iconic fancams!

The first Felix fancam that has had a chokehold on us ever since it was released is DANCERACHA’s performance of ‘Taste’ at the “MBC Music Festival”. If velvety allure were a person, it would be Felix.

The man is like a master of puppets who is fully aware of the effect he has on us. He is intense yet smooth as silk, and we have no option but to surrender to his magnetism. With the way this performance sends shivers down our neck, it wouldn’t be a surprise if we forgot to breathe.

Secondly, we have the fancam that highlights the diametric opposition between YongBok-ie and Felix. We’re talking about none other than Stray Kids’ ‘Case 143’ stage at “SBS Inkigayo”. Even seconds before the performance starts, Felix is being his sunshine self with the brightest grin on his face, but the moment the music starts, something shifts inside him. His gaze transforms from bright and crystal-clear to dark and captivating, and our jaws are left hanging on the floor. If that wasn’t impressive enough, he throws in a rogue smirk or two, and we’re left with hearts shooting out of our eyes.

Thirdly, on the complete other end of the spectrum, we have ‘The View’ performed at “SBS Inkigayo” where we get soft, pastel fairy Felix in all his glory. He is all smiles in this fancam and the positive energy radiating from him is simply contagious. This is the Felix we go to for an instant pick-me-up.

Finally, we could not possibly conclude without including the official Christmas anthem of all STAY - ‘Christmas EveL’ at “SBS Gayo Daejeon”. From the humor of the song to its mischievous appeal, Felix enjoys every single aspect of ‘Christmas EveL’ with such vigor and zest that it hypes us up even more.

Some other fancams we highly recommend to delve deeper into Felix’s stage duality are ‘Circus’ at “MBC Music Festival”, ‘Thunderous’ and ‘Domino’ at “SBS Inkigayo”, ‘Maniac’ at “Show! Music Core”, and quite literally every single “KINGDOM: LEGENDARY WAR” performance. Enjoy!

Visuals That Transport Us To A Webtoon - Felix's Aesthetic Duality

Just like there are innumerable genres of webtoons, Felix’s visuals also have uncountable aesthetics. Whether it be pixiecore or light academia, the flower boy next door or your university’s coolest nerd, Felix can pull off any look with ease. From his fashion to his styling, hair, and makeup, Felix’s ethereal beauty is like a magical canvas that brings everything together.

When it comes to Felix’s personal style, the idol likes to keep things casual and comfortable on the daily but switches it up for the most extravagant, inventive, and groundbreaking fashion for photoshoots or stage outfits. He’s constantly pushing the limits and broadening his style horizons to grow beyond conventions and restrictions. So, don’t be surprised if you see him in a soft and fluffy cardigan one day and in a leather and chains fit the next. That’s exactly what Felix’s aesthetic duality is all about.

At the end of the day, Felix has Stray Kids and STAY wrapped around his finger, and we’re not complaining! Whether we get teddy bear HaengBok or rockstar Felix, we will keep falling deeper and deeper in love with him every day.

Most importantly, even though Felix is undoubtedly one of the most beloved, accomplished, and respected idols in the industry, he is only getting started. After all, as he continues to unleash the power of his ever-evolving potential, we're witnessing history in the making. The future is brighter than ever for Stray Kids, and we cannot wait to see what Felix has in store for us next.

What is your favorite thing about Felix's duality? Tell us in the comments section down below!

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