| NAME | CORTIS (COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES) |
|---|---|
| KOREAN | 코르티스 (선 밖에 색칠하다) |
| FANDOM NAME | COER |
| DEBUT | August 18, 2025 |
|---|---|
| AGENCY | BigHit Music |
| MEMBERS | James, Juhoon, Martin, Seonghyeon and Keonho (5) |
“COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES” stands for crossing boundaries and not following rules. This is CORTIS’s motto. In keeping with this, the name “CORTIS” does not consist of the initial letters of the motto, as is usual, but was formed from individual, random letters taken from the entire phrase. The fan community is called “COER”, pronounced like the English word “core.” The fans are the core that drives CORTIS and gives them strength.
Come along and learn more about the history of CORTIS!
PRE-DEBUT
Before their debut, the members of CORTIS trained together at BigHit Music for 3–6 years, honing their skills as singers, rappers, and dancers. During this time, some of them even worked with other artists from HYBE Corporation, including TXT, ILLIT, and BTS!
For example, Martin was involved in producing TXT songs such as “Deja Vu”, “Miracle” and “Beautiful Strangers” as well as ILLIT’s “Magnetic”. His colleague James is also said to have created choreography for several hit songs, including “Deja Vu” (TXT), “Magnetic” (ILLIT), and “Tick-Tack” (ILLIT). He was also seen as a backup dancer during performances of BTS’s Jungkook song “Seven”.
As early as 2024, James, Juhoon, Martin, Seonghyeon, and Keonho flew to Los Angeles to work on their debut album. You can watch a glimpse of those three months in the documentary “What We Want”, which was released shortly after CORTIS’s debut.
Things only became truly serious for the boys in April 2025, when BigHit Music announced at a conference that a new five-member boy group would soon debut. Expectations were immediately enormous, as the group would follow in the footsteps of BTS and TXT, two of the best-known K-pop boy groups worldwide! Both also come from BigHit Music and debuted in 2013 (BTS) and 2019 (TXT), respectively. So, six years after TXT, CORTIS was set to follow.
BigHit Music described the new boy group at the conference as a “Young Creator Crew”, heavily involved in producing their music, choreography, and videos. This information raised expectations even further, as only a handful of idol groups write their own music. Even fewer are also responsible for their choreography. CORTIS deliberately has no fixed positions such as Main Vocal or Main Dancer, as everyone contributes in every area.
In July, the five members were finally officially introduced, and in August things continued at a rapid pace: On August 8, a logo video was released on TikTok, revealing the group’s name, “CORTIS”. The video was produced by Martin himself and showed that the boy group has indeed been taking creative control of its content from the very beginning.
On August 11, the pre-release single “GO!” was released. The highly anticipated official debut took place just a few days later, on August 18. The debut single “What You Want” not only attracted attention with its modern mix of various genres, but also with its unusual choreography, in which the members hop from one treadmill to another. Major names such as NME, Dazed, and Apple Music later called “GO!” one of the best K-pop songs of 2025!
CAREERS
After two singles, CORTIS finally presented their first mini album, “COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES”, on September 8, along with a music video for the new song “FaSHioN”. The album contains six tracks in total, including the previously released singles “GO!” and “What You Want”. All five members were credited as songwriters, composers, or producers.
The records didn’t take long to follow: around 250,000 copies were sold on the very first day, more than any other debut album by a K-pop artist in 2025. “COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES” topped South Korea’s Circle Album Chart and performed successfully on Japan’s Oricon Chart (#4) as well as the U.S. Billboard 200 (#15).
The high position on the Billboard chart was much more than just a personal success, as hardly any other K-pop artist had ever achieved such a high ranking with a debut album. CORTIS was surpassed only by the boy group “SuperM”, which debuted at number 1 on the chart in 2019 with their debut album.
Even more impressive than the chart success, however, was the sales record, as CORTIS surpassed the 2-million mark with COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES in early 2026! To date (2026), only two K-pop debut albums have reached this milestone: CORTIS and ZEROBASEONE’s “YOUTH IN THE SHADE”. Naturally, this success was rewarded with numerous awards at the end of the year, including the “Global Rookie Award” (TikTok Awards Korea), “Best New Artist” (MAMA Awards), “Rookie of the Year,” and “Best Performance” (Asia Artist Awards).
On November 25, exactly 100 days after the debut, the fan community finally received its own name as well. Fans had previously been invited to submit suggestions, from which “COER” was ultimately selected. The name is a combination of “CORTIS” and “Those who stand togethER”. It means that the fans accompany the boy group on their journey and cross boundaries together. The name is pronounced like the English word “Core”, meaning “core”. The fans are the core that drives CORTIS and gives them strength.
CORTIS kicked off 2026 musically with the single “Mention Me”, which serves as the official soundtrack for the Sony Pictures animated film “GOAT”. Also in February, the boy group made sports history by becoming the first K-pop group ever to perform during the halftime show of the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game in Los Angeles—and was even named “Friends of the NBA”!
The second mini album “GREENGREEN” was released on May 4. The pre-release single “RedRed” had already topped the charts in April, offering a glimpse of the album’s success. Over 1.1 million copies sold on the first day and around 2.31 million in the first week. No. 1 on the Circle Chart, No. 2 on the Oricon Chart, and No. 3 on the Billboard 200. GREENGREEN remained on the latter for a full 14 weeks!
Afterwards, things continued in a sporty vein with a performance supporting the Korean national football team at the World Cup in June. But the following ‘PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN’ tour was particularly exciting, as it was CORTIS’s very first. It began in July and comprised 13 concerts in Japan, South Korea, and North America. The tour concluded with a three-day concert in Kanagawa, Japan, in September. In keeping with the tour’s title, “Put Your Phone Away”, the boys asked their fans to keep their phones in their bags during the concerts and experience the moment. In Japan, filming was even strictly prohibited.
On the occasion of their first anniversary, CORTIS held the “2026 CORTIS TOUR BIRTHDAY PARTY” on August 22 and 23. There, the five singers performed two brand-new songs, “PACK IT UP” and “MONEYMONEYMONEY,” live for the first time. Both are included on the latest album, “GREENGREEN_playextended,” which is scheduled for release at the end of October 2026. As the name suggests, it is an extended version of the boy group’s second mini album, GREENGREEN, released to celebrate their birthday. The two new songs were created during the original album production but did not make the final track selection.
DISCOGRAPHY
FILMOGRAPHY/ VIDEOGRAPHY
| YEAR | TITLE |
|---|---|
| 2025 | What We Want (Pre-Debut Dokumentation) |
FUN FACTS
- As a child, Martin was a member of the “Rainbow Choir” for children from multicultural families in Korea. The choir performed at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.
- James was born in Hong Kong, has Thai and Taiwanese roots, and speaks five languages: Thai, Chinese, Korean, English, and Japanese.
- Juhoon was active as a child model and also appeared in music videos, such as the 2018 video for VIXX’s song “Scentist”.
- Seonghyeon has already written 100 original songs as a trainee.
- Keonho was a competitive swimmer before becoming a trainee. He competed in competitions until sixth grade and achieved top placements.
- The song “YOUNGCREATORCREW” on the second mini album “GREENGREEN” was created on the day CORTIS debuted. Keonho later said that he heard this term often during the media showcase, and that it spontaneously became a song while freestyling that afternoon.
OUR FAVORITE PERFORMANCE
CORTIS have sold millions of albums, broken records, and made waves internationally in a very short time. And they have done it all with songs they created largely themselves—from composition and choreography to the videos! This has already shown early on that the five can impress not only as idols, but also as the creative minds behind their music. We are sure that CORTIS’s story has only just begun and that many more exciting chapters await us!
Sources: CORTIS social media channels, BigHit Music, Circle Chart, Hanteo, Billboard
