Big Hit Music rookie group tops charts at home, abroad with creative approach, heavyweight backing
Boy band Cortis’ successful debut comes as welcome news at a time when the popularity of boy bands has been waning in recent years.
The quintet, the first boy band launched by Big Hit Music in six years, wrapped up promotions for its debut album, “Color Outside the Lines,” after a six-week run on SBS’ “Inkigayo” on Sunday. Since debuting on Aug. 18, the group has performed three tracks — prerelease single “Go!,” lead track “What You Want” and side track “Fashion” — on weekly music shows.
Cortis quickly established itself as a “young creator crew,” jointly producing its own music, choreography and video content. The album has scored multiple achievements for the rookies, ranking No. 1 in first-week sales among new acts this year and fourth all-time for K-pop debut albums. According to Hanteo Chart, the rookie group’s album sales surpassed 500,000 copies on Sept. 23.
The group also achieved a rare cross-platform feat. All three debut tracks topped Spotify’s Daily Viral Songs Global chart. “Go!” spent four consecutive days at No. 1 on Apple Music Korea’s Top 100: Today’s Hits and became the only 2025 boy band song to break into the daily chart of Melon, Korea’s largest local music streamer.
Cortis has made inroads in the US as well. The album debuted at No. 15 on the Billboard 200 on Saturday, the highest-ever entry for a debut K-pop group album aside from project-based teams.
The group undoubtedly benefited from the heavy support of Big Hit Music, the home of global phenomenon BTS.
The company provided three months of production in Los Angeles for the debut album, a rare opportunity even for established K-pop acts.
“We planned for a monthlong songwriting camp in LA, but things didn’t go smoothly, so we ended up working there for three months,” Gunho said during Cortis’ debut showcase in Seoul last month.
The music videos for “Go!” and “What You Want,” filmed in Los Angeles, along with “JoyRide” that was shot in New Zealand, have helped draw international attention.
The production highlights also underscore a large gap in resources between major and midsized agencies.
While midtier firms typically spend around 1 billion won ($714,000) on debuts, large agencies can invest 10 billion to 20 billion won, amplifying their promotional impact.
The investments have paid off.
Cortis topped K-pop Radar’s Weekly Fandom Chart for two consecutive weeks, signaling the fastest-growing fandom of any artist. The group’s debut music video drew 500,000 views for the week of Aug. 28 to Sept. 3, while its Spotify following jumped by 74,000 — far surpassing the K-pop average of 1,800.
Support from labelmates BTS and Tomorrow X Together also fueled the rise. Their mentions on social media and press events helped Cortis gain 366,000 followers on Instagram and 22,000 followers on X in just one week — compared to average increases of 3,100 and 60, respectively, for other K-pop acts.
A major part of the group’s branding has been its “young creator crew” identity, heavily emphasized by Big Hit Music prior to the debut. All five bandmates hold album credits in composition, choreography and video direction.
“We wondered why idols often compose their own songs but not their own videos. As we’ve been filming since we were young, we wanted to make that part of our work,” Martin said.
Music critic Shin Sae-mi said that while the concept of self-producing collectives has existed abroad for over a decade, it is only recently gaining traction in Korea.
“Cortis’ identity as a ‘young creator crew’ or ‘self-producing group’ distinguishes them from other boy bands,” Shin said Monday. “They stick consistently to a hip-hop-based sound rather than mixing genres as many K-pop acts do, which makes them feel fresh. Their visuals and authenticity also stand out.”
