CORTIS Becomes Half-Million Seller Right Out of the Gate

Big Hit Music’s new boy group CORTIS has stormed onto the K-pop scene, securing “half-million seller” status with their debut album.

According to Hanteo Chart on the 24th, the group—made up of Martin, James, Joo Hoon, Sung Hyun, and Geon Ho—surpassed 500,000 cumulative sales for their first EP COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES as of the previous day. Released on September 8, the album initially recorded 436,367 copies in its first week, already one of the most impressive debut tallies ever. In just over a week, sales continued to climb by nearly 15%, defying the typical post-release slowdown.

With this, COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES now holds the 4th highest first-week sales for a debut album in K-pop history, cementing CORTIS as frontrunners for the “Best Rookie of the Year” crown. Big Hit Music noted, “Sales usually drop sharply after the first week, but CORTIS showed otherwise. Reaching half a million proves their fanbase is steadily growing.”

The group’s momentum has been fueled by repeated stages on music shows, where they’ve showcased versatile charms across the energetic title track What You Want, the bold intro GO!, and the stylish follow-up FaSHioN. Their ability to pull off diverse genres has earned strong word-of-mouth, even leading them to become the first boy group debut of 2025 to top Melon’s daily chart.

Their success is especially significant as CORTIS is the first boy group launched by Big Hit Music in six years, following global heavyweights BTS and TXT. They’ve already made international waves, debuting at No. 15 on the Billboard 200 (dated September 27)—the highest charting debut album ever for a K-pop group, excluding temporary project groups. Not only are CORTIS the only 2025 rookies to enter the Billboard 200 so far, they’re also the first K-pop boy group in four years to break into the top 20.

With explosive growth at home and abroad, CORTIS isn’t just a promising rookie group—they’re quickly proving themselves as one of the most impactful debuts of the K-pop fourth generation.