Meet CORTIS, the Coolest K-Pop Debut of the Year

The days leading up to the launch of a new K-pop group are often hectic and intense. Years of training typically go into preparing a group — not just in music and dance, but also often in areas like English, all to get them ready for global stardom. Now BIGHIT MUSIC, the label behind BTS and Tomorrow x Together (TXT), has revealed its first new group in six years: CORTIS, a five-member group that launched with official social media accounts in early August.

Over the past couple of years, fans have speculated about “BIGHIT’s new boy group,” with sightings while filming in Los Angeles or attending labelmates’ concerts. And yesterday morning, CORTIS released their first-ever song, “GO!” Much like their labelmates, Martin, James, Juhoon, Seonghyeon, and Keonho are heavily involved in production, and their other talents range from choreography to videography, allowing them to incorporate their creative ideas into everything the group will put out. 

While “GO!” marks CORTIS’ first-ever release, some of the members have had real-world experience in music. Martin had a hand in producing ILLIT’s “Magnetic,” ENHYPEN’s “Outside,” and most recently, “Beautiful Strangers” by TXT, just to name a few, and James was involved in choreographing for a handful of HYBE artists as well, including the viral “Magnetic” dance and “Seven” by BTS’ Jung Kook. All of the members of CORTIS are true creators in different avenues, and their management has empowered them to have real input into their music, choreography, and videos. 

The group’s name derives from the phrase “color outside the lines,” a nod to limitless creativity; it also draws inspiration from cortisol, a hormone linked to energy, action, and emotional intensity. After meeting the members and experiencing the music and accompanying music videos, the vision clicks into place. 

CORTIS are here to push boundaries and offer a freer, more unfiltered take on what a K-pop group can be. Korean-Canadian Martin, the group’s leader at age 17, is a natural creative who drives CORTIS’ sound, and cites Tyler, the Creator and Mac Miller as some of his favorite artists. James, the oldest at 19, is Taiwanese and a dance prodigy with a black belt in taekwondo, as well as 10 years of ice hockey at a semi-pro level, an experience he credits with instilling discipline. Juhoon has a background as a youth model, appearing in commercials and music videos, and attended an international middle school before getting scouted to join BIGHIT, where he sharpened his English skills. Seonghyeon, while soft-spoken at first, is a creative powerhouse with a sharp edge, and the ideas he brings to CORTIS as a topliner and a lyricist often come to fruition. The youngest member Keonho, at 16, is a key contributor to the group’s music videos, shapes up the group’s dynamic, and defines their current headspace perfectly — curious about the future, wanting the whole world to know their names. 

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For the group’s first-ever interview, CORTIS met with Rolling Stone to discuss how they came together and the nerves they felt around finally debuting. Speaking mostly in English, with occasional asides in Korean, they were quick to support one another by helping find the right words, nodding in encouragement, and building on each other’s stories as they dove into their shared experiences.

We first met two or three weeks ago in Seoul. How have these past few weeks have been for you?

James: We’ve been busy. We’ve been practicing a lot, as always, but also doing a lot of different activities — a lot of different schedules, which is new to us, because for us, we usually always have full days staying in the practice room. It hasn’t fully sunk in yet [laughs]. Trying to get all the information, prepare as much as we can. I think as the days go by and the date is getting sooner and sooner, you kind of feel the anxiety coming up a little bit by bit. So yeah, definitely starting to feel it.

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Seonghyeon: Same. [Laughs.] Yeah…  like, surreal? And I’m kind of nervous too, and also I’m very excited to get out there. I think it’s going to be fun.

Juhoon: When we see our Google Calendar, it’s starting to get filled up. I’m kind of feeling it.

Tell us how you first got introduced to music. Did you play instruments growing up? What kind of music did you listen to?

Martin: I actually just bought a synthesizer. It’s like a mini version of a Juno, and it comes in handy. I have been playing around with that a lot. I don’t really know how to play the piano or the keyboard, but I know a couple chords, so I like to play it often.

James: For me, I’ve been listening to Michael Jackson since I was a little kid. Taking the bus, dancing around, with Michael Jackson in my earphones. The King of Pop never disappoints .

Seonghyeon: Before I came here, I never listened to hip-hop or R&B. But now, I listen to a bunch of different genres. Pop, hip-hop, jazz.

How has it been getting to know each other over the past couple of years? And are there any specific moments that you think helped you build a strong relationship?

Keonho: Well, after we lived together in the dorm…

James: Unfortunately, we lived together, right? [Laughs.] When you go to practice together and go back home together, you eat together, you watch stuff together, everything kind of just comes naturally. At times it’s hard. It’s kind of rough, like here and there. Especially on the holidays, when it’s suddenly quiet. When everyone goes back home, suddenly it gets quiet, and then you’re like, “Something’s missing.” You kind of feel the decibel – it’s not there.

What else have you done to bond as a team?

Martin: We went to Universal Studios. 

Keonho: After we finished our song camp. 

James: We milked our time there to the very last second. We ran all over the place to take rides. … But recently, we went to Six Flags. Actually, personally, I like Six Flags. Really personally.

Martin: I mean, Six Flags has much more extreme rides.

James: Six Flags was exciting. You can feel the adrenaline, you feel like you’re gonna die! [Laughs.] But no! X2 was like —

That’s the scariest ride I’ve ever been on. [Laughs.]

James: When we took off our shoes for the ride, it was nerve-wracking. 

Martin: We knew it was going to be something [big].

Now that you guys are debuting, I’m curious if you have any short-term goals, looking to the end of the year. And how about longer-term goals — like five years, 10 years?

Juhoon: Short-term, since we’re just debuting, our goal is to show who we are to the audience and make sure that they understand who we are. 

James: Just trying to be at our best at introducing ourselves to the world. 

Keonho: I’ve never thought about long-term goals, but, I think… Now, I’m just curious. Curious about myself five or 10 years from now, I guess I could say I “want the whole world to know our name,” yeah. [Laughs.] That’s actually lyrics from one of our songs. 

Have you gotten any advice from other HYBE artists or BIGHIT MUSIC artists that has stuck with you?

Martin: BTS gave us the advice to do well by the people that you’re working with, the staff. And I feel like that’s all that matters. To hit a long run, you’ve got to be good to the people around you. You’ve got to show love.

James: Yeah, I think in the end, we make up CORTIS, but at the same time, the staff and everyone included — they’re all part of CORTIS. It’s all a big team and big family.

Juhoon: Another piece of advice BTS gave us is that a lot of people may think it’s the end once you debut. But actually, the debut is just the beginning, so there’s no need to be perfect. Show improvement and keep evolving as you go. That’s been helping me a lot for where we are right now in this particular moment in time when I’m just about to debut. 

In terms of preparing for your debut, I’m sure there’s a lot of things that you’re doing for the first time. Is there anything from the process that was surprising to you?

James: Today! [Laughs.]

Martin: We did a lot today. This is our first-ever interview. So today was a busy day, and it was actually pretty fun to just try all these new things. 

James: It’s the first full day we didn’t have dance class, but it’s full with other schedules. It’s just so fast. Everything is fast. 

Martin: Yeah, exactly! I was gonna say the same.

James: And, like, even now, at 11:30 pm, I still feel like it’s lunch time. Everything went by so fast. I feel like I haven’t done anything yet. But now it’s like, the day is kind of coming to an end. It’s like, what?

Seonghyeon: Usually we would have one class for like six hours, but now, we’re doing a variety of things throughout the day. 

James: I think also because we’re used to repeating the same thing for a very long time, and now it’s like “this, that, this, that, this, that” is thrown at you, yeah?

Is there anything you’ve been doing to try to stay calm and not be as nervous?

James: We’re nervous! [Laughs.] Yeah, we’re just nervous.

Martin: I think all we can do is just get used to it, do more, if it’s possible. I feel like, as we do it, we’ll start to find more “know-how,” right? And that’s how it will kind of brush off.

Martin, I know you worked on a lot of CORTIS’ music, and you already have experience working on music. Do you have a favorite song or piece of art that you’ve worked on so far?

Martin: Wow. I mean, I contributed to a lot of other senior artists’ tracks, such as ILLIT’s  “Magnetic,” TXT’s “Deja Vu,” et cetera. Working for other artists was fun. It also really influenced me to write and produce for Color Outside the Lines, our album. So for me personally, I just feel like the songs in our album… “Lullaby” was one of my favorite pieces that I worked on, because it wasn’t working for someone else. It was really expressing myself. We get to release it, put our own words on it, put it together, recorded with every member’s voice. The process of that was pretty fun, and hope I have more chances to have beats and songs I work on be used for our team.

What was it like when you first saw your name in the credits in a public setting?

Martin: It was definitely surreal, unbelievable, but I was trying to stay humble at first, and I wasn’t trying to get on any high horses. Just stay as who I am, because I was still a trainee back then, and still am. I feel like I’m just trying to stay humble as much as I can. That’s the most important thing, that’s number one.

James, I know you also worked on a lot of other artists’ choreo, and you have a background in sports as well. Is there any influence there between sports and choreo?

James:  I think my sports background definitely did influence me with just… discipline. I think discipline is a big thing — a mental state to carry through all kinds of different crafts. When you have to hone your own craft, the only thing you can really do is have discipline. Ice hockey taught me that. And through dancing, I was able to find different ways to learn, or even online, on YouTube, finding different artists to follow. My favorite song I participated in, personally, is “GO!” from our album. “GO!” was a song that really came from a very organic space, because we actually were in the studio, fooling around. It was our first day in L.A. at the time, and we didn’t expect much from that day. But suddenly, “GO!” just pops out. Before that, everyone was kind of calm, but then everyone was jumping around and shouting all over the place. So the energy in the studio was very nice. Even with the choreo, “GO!” was choreographed wiht us five in the practice studio. Like, in two, three days. It was very fast. It’s like we got into this flow state. Everything went by very smoothly. So definitely “GO!” was a very memorable experience,

Would the other members also say that “GO!” is the favorite?  Are you excited that that’s the first song that’s coming out? 

Seonghyeon: Yeah, definitely. I like it. And yes, we all like it. [Smiles.]

Juhoon: Yeah, one of our favorite tracks on this album. I think it’s the best track to come as an introduction song. It really has our daily lifestyles, our vibes. It really introduces who we are.

Juhoon, we discussed a few weeks back about how you were scouted, and how you felt like if you didn’t take this opportunity to join, it would be missing a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Juhoon: At the time, I was a middle-school student, so I was studying hard. But one day, suddenly I was approached. It was kind of chaotic. I had the chance to visit the company and see the members, and see what they make. I really felt like this team is different. Their music is really unique, and I really loved their personalities. So I thought that it would be a great chance to join this team. And also, since I thought they were cool, I thought I might be cooler when I joined the team. That was a big point.

What were your first impressions when you met? 

James: This one might be rough. [Laughs.]

Juhoon: It’s been a while… Seonghyeon and Keonho, they were really nice to me. 

Keonho: Wow!

So Martin and James weren’t? [Laughs.] 

Juhoon: James, I didn’t really have a lot of chances to talk with him at first. He was just like a big brother. So yeah, at first, it was a bit cold, I guess. [Laughs.]

James: I feel you. [Laughs.] Yeah, I can be quite intimidating when it’s the first time meeting someone. For me, I’m a very, very, very introverted person. It’s hard for me to talk the first time meeting someone. So yeah, I fully understand.

Juhoon: [Laughs.] And for Martin, since I knew that he did training for the longest, I really looked up to him. I really thought that he was cool. He can sing well, dance well…

Martin: Thank you. [Laughs.]

Seonghyeon, I’m curious to hear more about what type of angle you bring to the group creatively. I know Martin does a lot of song production, and James does a lot of the choreo. And we talked a lot about how you will come up with ideas very quickly.

Seonghyeon: Great question [laughs]. I think my ideas are really…  I wrote the top line of “What You Want.” And “JoyRide,” I wrote a lot of the lyrics.

James: It turned out nice.

How would you say you work collaboratively with the team?

Seonghyeon: I think just by talking a lot. We share our opinions back and forth. I try to bring new ideas to the table. 

Where do you get your inspiration from these days?

Seonghyeon: Just…from what I’m doing, right? From whatever I’m up to these days, things that are close to me. 

Keonho, you do a lot of the video production, right? How did you get into that?

Keonho: I first got into video production just from growing up watching a lot of different artists’ music videos, but also a lot of movies. When we were in L.A., we tried to make a music video for “GO!,” just the five of us, and it was very new to me to contribute our ideas for our own songs, and for it to actually come to life. It was so fun. The ones after that, “What You Want,” “FaSHioN,” “JoyRide,” and “Lullaby.” It was so fun, and I want to be able to keep doing it that way, too. 

Did you storyboard different concepts, or save things on your phone that you thought were cool?

Keonho: Sometimes we just write down all of the ideas in the laptop or our phone. We have to send it to our company. I’m not good at drawing, but I’ll draw well enough for them to understand the vision. 

Are there any films or music videos that you particularly really like?

Keonho: I think “Lullaby,” because it’s very raw and the video came out raw as well. And even while we were filming, it felt like we were just hanging out together. The new perspective of seeing us felt fresh and when we saw the results, watching the video accompanied by the track, it felt more artistic too. 

Do you feel that the members understand your visions and ideas that you bring to the table?

James: We kind of plan our videos together, even with storyboarding and all the demos. We come together in one room, talk for several hours, and write down every single idea, and funnel the great ideas and then put everything together. In the process, we argue a lot… When it comes to really shooting the video — at times, it doesn’t go as planned. And so, there are a lot of things that went unexpectedly well, and there are a lot of things that, turns out, aren’t achievable as planned. Through those experiences, we were able to learn and have a feel of like, “Oh, this is achievable, and this is not. Maybe we can improvise.”

Now that you’re debuting, is there anything that you think you’ll miss about these days as trainees?

James: Just going to eat. 

Martin: Yeah, going out to eat.

Juhoon: Yeah, that’s big. 

Martin: Yeah, and we used to ride bikes all together. But now we can’t. We don’t really have the time..

Juhoon: We got our van now. [Laughs.] We can’t really ride bikes. 

James: I don’t know if I can say this or not, but sneaking out to PC bang [a type of Korean internet cafe where people pay by the hour to play video games]. Just fooling around outside. I think those types of things, we’ll miss from time to time.

It’s going to be such a big change. On the other hand, what are you looking forward to most, aside from everyone finally knowing and seeing all of your hard work? 

Martin: Definitely releasing our tracks and seeing people reacting to it, because, like, we really poured our hearts into it. It was a long time of hard work. Letting people see this is just a blessing, and something that I’m so looking forward to.

James: Performing is one thing we look forward to. Because you get to see people face-to-face. All the hard work, you get to show it right in front of people. Just exchanging great energy and communicating is a big part of the art that we do.

Are you nervous to get in front of people?

James: Yes!

Martin: I feel more nervous… in interviews. [Laughs.] When I go on the stage, I feel more free and just I feel, I feel more me, and like just like seeing people enjoying or like making people enjoy music that we are playing or that we perform, just is a fun moment. 

Is there a specific reaction that you’re hoping to get from the public?

James: To be honest, I think if there’s a reaction, then great. It’s positive, negative, whatever, we’re able to get it as feedback. If you like it, great, if you have critical feedback, great. We always can improve. As long as there is a reaction, it means you listened to what we released.

Juhoon: I really want to hear people talking about us, saying we’re new, or fresh, because that’s what we really tried on this album. We tried to bring some fresh songs, fresh choreographies, and fresh videos. So if they think we are fresh, then I think that’s going to feel like, “Oh yeah.”

Martin: I feel like, not only music- and performance-wise, but even as a group, and even as individuals… I say this word a lot, but 새시대의 추구미 [pursuing the aesthetics of the next generation] — that’s what we’re really aiming for. Just being somebody unique and feeling free to express themselves.

Last question, are you guys ready?

James: We will never be [laughs]. It’s a never-ending process. I think we would never be ready. Like, we would always find something to work on. Every new second, as the minutes pass by, we would always find a new thing to work on. And so, like, ready? Maybe not.

Martin: We’re always trying our best to prepare for whatever’s upcoming. For now it’s our rollout. We’re preparing for that really hard, putting a lot of work in it.

James: Trying to chase perfection. Even though something perfect might not be achievable, but trying to get as close to perfect as possible is the task, and so…

But coloring outside the lines, right? 

James: [Nods.] Like doing stuff in really weird ways, yeah?

Martin: You know, sometimes, the perfection is not to be perfect… Sometimes.

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James: Sometimes it’s meant to not be perfect —

Martin: So that becomes the perfection. Yeah, it’s complicated.