Pre-debut activities and formation Prior to the formation of Cortis, most of the members had prior experience in entertainment, modeling, or music. James was a trainee with Big Hit's pre‑debut group
Trainee A from 2021 until the group's disbandment in 2022. He contributed to choreography and songwriting for other artists, working on tracks such as "
Magnetic", "
Cherish (My Love)", and "
Tick-Tack" by
Illit, and "Deja Vu" and "Miracle" by
Tomorrow X Together. He also performed as a backing dancer for
Jung Kook's live renditions of "
Seven". Martin was a member of the Rainbow Children's Choir and served as a flag bearer for
Iceland at the
2018 Winter Olympics before joining Big Hit a year later, also contributing as a producer to
Illit's "
Magnetic"; Le Sserafim's "Pierrot", and
Tomorrow X Together's "Deja Vu", "Miracle", and "Beautiful Strangers". Keonho was previously a competitive swimmer, noted for his skills and multiple victories at meets, before choosing to join Big Hit. Cortis members have no fixed positions with each of them contributing to songwriting, music production, videography, and choreography. From April to May 2024, the members attended a song camp in
Los Angeles,
California, where they collaborated on the production of their debut album. The group's members, Martin, James, Juhoon, Seonghyeon, and Keonho, were revealed on July 14, with the group's name disclosed on August 7.
2025: Debut with Color Outside the Lines On August 11, 2025, Cortis released their pre‑debut single "Go!", with all members contributing to the songwriting and composition while the accompanying music video was filmed in Los Angeles. They officially debuted with the single "What You Want," featuring choreography performed on treadmills. Four days later, the group released an English version of the song featuring American singer
Teezo Touchdown, and performed the track with him on
Mnet's
M Countdown. They released a trailer for their documentary
What We Want on August 30, which documented the production of their debut album in Los Angeles, with the first episode being released on September 1. They released their debut EP,
Color Outside the Lines, on September 8, accompanied by the single "Fashion". The music video, filmed in
Christchurch,
New Zealand, accumulated one million views within 12 hours. Their EP sold approximately 250,000 copies on its first day, setting a new record for first‑day sales by a K‑pop act that debuted in 2025. By November,
Color Outside the Lines had surpassed 200 million streams on
Spotify, the fastest for a K‑pop rookie debuting that year to reach the milestone. In December 2025, Cortis were announced as headliners for the NBA Crossover concert series in February 2026, alongside
Ludacris and
Shaboozey. That same month, they performed at
Tokyo National Stadium for
KBS2's 2025 Music Bank Global Festival in Japan, performing "What You Want" and a cover of BTS's "
Mic Drop." By the end of the year, Cortis won multiple awards, including Rookie of the Year and Best Performance at the
10th Asia Artist Awards, and Best New Artist at the
2025 MAMA Awards.
2026: US performances and GreenGreen , where they won Rookie Artist of the Year along with
AllDay Project. In January 2026, Cortis attended the
40th Golden Disc Awards, where they won Rookie Artist of the Year alongside co‑ed group
AllDay Project, and was later nominated for Best K‑pop New Artist at the
2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards while "Go!" was nominated for Favorite TikTok Dance. They were named Friends of the NBA to help promote the league in Asia and were announced as the headlining performers for the
2026 NBA All-Star Game, becoming the first K‑pop group to perform at the event. They headlined the NBA Crossover Concert Series at the
Los Angeles Convention Center on February 12, 2026, and released the song "Mention Me" the following day as part of the soundtrack for the American animated film
Goat. During the concert, they performed a new song titled "Young Creator Crew (YCC)" as a teaser for their upcoming second EP, with the track being heavily promoted on their
TikTok. They performed at the
Kia Forum during halftime of the 2026
NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, becoming the first K‑pop group to headline a halftime show in the event's history. On March 6, 2026, Cortis announced their second EP,
GreenGreen, set for release on May 4, with the title track scheduled to release on April 20. On the same day,
Color Outside the Lines surpassed two million sales, becoming the second K‑pop group to reach that milestone with a debut album after
Zerobaseone. They announced the title track from
GreenGreen as "RedRed" on March 30, 2026, with
GreenGreen having accumulated over 565,000 pre‑saves on Spotify. As of April 2,
GreenGreen has surpassed 1.22 million pre-orders. "RedRed" achieved commercial success upon its release, charting in multiple countries across Asia, Europe, and North America while topping the
iTunes Top Song charts in thirteen regions. == Artistry ==