CORTIS is a five-member idol boy group. The members are Martin, James, Juhoon, Seonghyeon and Keonho, and are the first boy group to debut under BIGHIT MUSIC in six years. They are a young group, all teenagers: 17-year-old Martin is the leader, 16-year-old Keonho is the maknae, and the oldest member is James, who is 19.  

Like many idol groups these days, CORTIS is multinational: Martin is Korean Canadian and James is Thai Chinese. Their name is taken from their debut album title, COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES, and signifies their independent nature, positioning them as artists in the process. All members were involved in producing the album, composing beats and lyrics, creating music videos,  choreographing dance moves, set design, and other promotional materials, as well as fashioning their own image.

Their youthful exuberance and commitment to authenticity shine through. The DIY aesthetics of some of the associated content is at odds with the polished, perfect surfaces of K-pop, where visuality is often conceived as more important than artistry and musicality, and postmodern consumer surfaces are all that matter. While not much is known about the selection process, we are told that the members were chosen based on their talents and artistry to form a cohesive group whose members would work collaboratively and share the same vision: “We sit together and literally gather our heads together to shape everything. Whether it’s a single line of lyrics or a simple dance move, we think it through until it fits” (Juhoon in Pyo Kyung-min, 2025). 

Usually, a K-pop debut is carefully curated and meticulously marketed, with visuals predominating over vocals and promotion activities carefully scripted. CORTIS’s debut is different. Eschewing the construction of a fictional universe for fans to suture themselves into, we are offered five ordinary teenagers: they are Gen Z personified: digital natives and content creators. The composition of the group also avoids the fixed roles that we find typically in K-pop, including centre and visual, positioning them instead as a “young creator crew”. 

The debut album speaks to and of youth, the halcyon days before adult responsibilities constrain and contain us. Consisting of five songs: two singles: “GO” (pre-release) and “What You Want” (lead), “FaSHioN”, “JoyRide” and “Lullaby”, the EP runs at just over 12 minutes for the physical release and 17 for the digital which has the addition of the remix of “What You Want”, feating Teezo Touchdown. There is no performative blackness here, which is a relief given the track record of K-pop, but rather an engagement with black music and acknowledgment of its centrality, with not a braid or durag in sight in their music videos. There is a clear structure to the album and a narrative flow: with “GO”, CORTIS announce their presence to the world, both cocky and cocksure, all bristling energy and in your face attitude; “What You Want” and “FaSHioN” keep up the explosive energy and teenage bravado, while things slow down for “JoyRide” and “Lullaby” as the lyrics become more contemplative and introspective.

 “GO” opens the EP with dreams and defiance and articulates the group’s commitment to succeed: “Watch me, I’m gon’ spit it, pop and pop, I’m in hit mode / Wanna make a hit like a hitman, so I reload”. “GO” shouts determination and desire, set against a backdrop of lo-fi trap synths and beats that fuse pop and hip-hop, offering a snapshot of the present, past, and possible future, expressing the youthful belief that anything is possible. The future is there to be seized: “I just gotta get it / Watch me go, go, go, go, go, go”.  It is bragging and boastful, and full of youthful exuberance and excitement.

“What you want” is equally brash and in your face, opening with: “Crash, smash, rock, mash up / Ooh, take what you want / Money, style, fame, love and what? / Ooh, take what you want / Life’s too fast, why hold back, that’s enough (What you want?)”. Here, the inspiration is the 1960s and psychedelic rock, playing with genres and boundaries to produce something which feels new and fresh. CORTIS seek to position themselves differently in an oversaturated market of exceptionally talented young people, through the use of direct address rather than metaphor or hyperbole: “I want to see the whole world / Put some stamps on my passport (What you want?) / Well, it’s what I planned back when I was young and naive (What you want?) / Left home to look for what we dreamed of, what we came for”. Again, CORTIS insists on the potential of the future when you are young; if you can only reach out and embrace it, dreams can become reality. 

“FaSHioN” continues the verbal assault on our ears and senses, this time bringing together trap with southern hip-hop, while keeping true to the centrality of environmental awareness, that is a defining feature of Gen Z: “My tee, five bucks, my pants, 10,000 won / My vision, billions, trillions like Bezos /Dongmyo, wassup? Hongdae, wassup? / I make them famous, I call that, fashion”. While this isn’t Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop”, this commitment to ethical fashion is anthemic to K-pop: “I mean I’m on a plane, finished the album in LA, came back looking fly, back on my swag / Foreign money talk, exchange rate daily up / Thrift shop finds got me looking fresh / Pull up boys, scraping away / Vintage Jesus”.

The pace slows down with “JoyRide”, a more conventional melodic pop track, which contemplates the hardships overcome to produce this album, as well as debut as K-pop idols: “Trapped inside this building all night / No sun, no sky, My face is pale all day / I’m going crazy, flipping like fried eggs, pancakes / Bloodshot eyes tonight / Run away, get out of here”.  The final track “Lullaby” is a fitting conclusion to this short, but perfectly formed EP, again, reflecting on the past path that has got them to this point, and asking for time to stop rushing forward with no time to revel in the experience: “Seasons spent flowing away underground / Staying up all night, renting hours of time / My crayon abandoned in the corner of the room / When I’m short on sleep, why should I dream? / Quiet first / I got work / You got work / But in this moment / Quiet first.” The EP begins in noise and ends with silence, in a circular movement that mimics the ebbs and flows of time. 

This is an impressive debut by CORTIS and suggests that global stardom will eventually follow, as to how massive they will be is unknowable, but they certainly are a force to be reckoned with. The members have constructed a solid, distinctive sound and image. They demonstrate that they can do both the loud, noise-driven side of K-pop and the more melodic ballads, showing range and infinite potential, while clearly striving to subvert the usual norms of the genre.

While there is a rawness to their work, it is not a weakness but rather part of its charm. CORTIS may signal the beginning of a new era in K-pop – one where artists are given more creative control over their music and identities, no longer bound to pre-written songs just to keep pace with the industry’s relentless release schedule, but instead exercising true agency over their own sound.

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Written by Dr Colette Balmain

Featured image courtesy of BIGHIT MUSIC

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