BigHit Music’s first rookie boy group in six years, CORTIS, makes its grand entrance today (Aug. 18) at 6 p.m. KST with the release of their title track “What You Want.”
The five-piece―MARTIN, JAMES, JUHOON, SEONGHYEON, KEONHO―is the label’s third boy group after BTS (2013) and TOMORROW X TOGETHER (2019). Fans have been buzzing about whether BigHit’s “six-year hot streak” will hold true once again.
The numbers suggest momentum is real: CORTIS topped 1 million TikTok followers just six days after launching their account and sits at 1.4 million as of this morning (Aug. 18). The music video for their intro track “GO!” has landed on YouTube’s Trending charts in 11 countries, including Korea, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, signaling fast-growing global interest.
CORTIS brand themselves as a “Young Creator Crew,” with every member hands-on in content creation. All five are credited on their debut album, COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES, and actively contributed to the choreography and creative direction for “GO!”
Notably, MARTIN and JAMES brought pre-debut experience to the table, having worked on music and choreography for labelmates TOMORROW X TOGETHER, ENHYPEN and ILLIT during their trainee days―raising expectations for a debut with uncommon polish.
“What You Want” blends nostalgia-laced 1960s psychedelic-rock guitar riffs with hip-hop boom-bap rhythms―an adventurous genre mix rarely heard in K-pop.
Lyrically, the track serves as CORTIS’s calling card as they step into a new world, backed by a bold, high-impact performance. Expect inventive visual flourishes on stage, with a conceptual performance film dropping at 6 p.m. KST on the HYBE Labels official YouTube channel.
After staking their claim with the title track, CORTIS will officially release their debut album, COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES, on Sept. 8, kicking off full-scale promotions.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)