BigHit Music's rookie group CORTIS's debut album became a half-million seller. This is a remarkable achievement for a team that did not build a strong fandom in advance through audition programs, coming about two weeks after releasing their first album.
According to Hanteo Chart on the 24th, CORTIS (Martin, James, Juhun, Sunghyun, Geonho)'s first EP "COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES" surpassed cumulative sales of 500,000 copies as of the previous day. The album, released on the 8th, had first-week sales (album sales for one week from the release date) of 436,367 copies. That represents nearly a 15% increase in sales in just over a week.
"COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES" achieved the fourth-highest first-week sales for a K-pop group's debut album in history, earning CORTIS the title of this year's top rookie. Typically, sales drop sharply after the first week of release, but CORTIS was different. Their reaching half-million-seller status is evidence that new fans continue to be steadily drawn in over time.
Their popularity was ignited as CORTIS repeatedly performed on music shows. The five members drew admiration by perfectly handling diverse concepts and genres, from the title track "What You Want" to the intro "GO!" and the follow-up "FaSHioN." Their solid live skills, choreography they created themselves, and music fit together like a well-tailored outfit. That sparked word of mouth, and they have shown fierce momentum, becoming the first boy group debuting this year to break into the Melon daily chart. On social media, dance challenges imitating their moves, as well as members' fashion and photography styles, have been trending daily.
CORTIS is a team newly launched by BigHit Music, the label of HYBE (chairman Bang Si-hyuk), six years after BTS and TOMORROW X TOGETHER. With "COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES," they reached No. 15 on the Billboard 200 (Sept. 27). Excluding project groups, this is the best charting debut album by a K-pop group in history. They were also the only rookie in 2025 to enter the Billboard 200, and the first K-pop boy group debuting in the past four years to break into the top 20.
[Photo] Provided by BigHit Music.
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