All 5 CORTIS members looking out at all their fans. (From left to right: Martin, Seonghyeon, Keonho, Juhoon, James) Credit: BIGHIT MUSIC (HYBE)
CORTIS are high-energy, young, and fresh all-rounders that bring the spirit of old-school hip hop, all while defining the sound of the next generation of K-pop.
Who is CORTIS?
I drove 8 hours this weekend to see one of the most talked about K-pop groups this year, CORTIS, on their sold out first ever world tour!
Consisting of 5 members, CORTIS debuted in August 2025, becoming the third group under BigHit Music, the same label that formed BTS and TOMORROW X TOGETHER.
In just under a year since their debut, CORTIS has had immense success. Forming a large fanbase, nicknamed ‘COER’, the group has accumulated 12 million monthly listeners on just Spotify alone. The group has also been nominated for 16 awards, and won 10 of them. Two of those notably being “Best New Artist” and “Rookie of the Year.”
Everyone who loves K-pop has been keeping up with these rookies. The announcement of their first ever world tour “Put Your Phone Down” amassed a lot of buzz online. In fact, while waiting to get tickets many fans claimed that over 100,000 people were in the queue for each city. Places like New York City single handedly had half a million fans waiting to get tickets. With only 7 U.S tour dates, seeing CORTIS this summer was highly exclusive and widely talked about.
The Show
To open the show, CORTIS started off with the energetic “YOUNGCREATORCREW”. Immediately, all the fans started singing the words, and bopping their heads along to the lyrics. It stayed at this energy level the whole time. Besides a small 5 video break and some slower songs, CORTIS stayed up on stage dancing and performing nonstop. Their energy did not deteriorate once. Even Keonho, who is currently dealing with a finger injury, got up and jumped around with the rest of the members at some points.
It wasn’t just CORTIS bringing the energy. Their fans knew all the words and some were even doing the dances around me. An iconic staple of K-pop concerts are the lightsticks that are custom to each group. The CORTIS lightstick is very unique in comparison to other groups in their generation, it thrives in simplicity and looks similar to a rave lightstick. Seeing a sea of those lights in front of me, along with the jumping and dancing made me feel like I was at a party.
COERS in the crowd jumping with lightsticks. Credit: BIGHIT MUSIC (HYBE)
This wasn’t my first K-pop show but this was one of the most unique shows I’ve been to. The small size of the venue, and the spirit of the members made it feel personal and new. A big highlight of the show was when the members came down the aisles to interact with the fans that were further back. It was such a special moment, and amazing to see so many fans excited to see the idols up close. I wasn’t near these moments, but I luckily did get to see Martin from a distance, his height made him hard to miss!
A unique choice by the band was the decision to repeat songs. Being so new, CORTIS only has 2 EPs and a few singles, leaving a runtime of only 45 minutes if they only did all their songs once. I knew about this prior to attending the show, and was seeing a lot of hate online when it came to this choice. But honestly, I loved this aspect of the show. It was fun to hear their songs again, and the fans certainly didn’t mind, they continued jumping and singing with each repeat. It also wasn’t the exact same version of the song repeated, they did new remixes and different visuals with each repeat. One of the most notable was “Go!” which featured confetti, lasers, and a track with a different mix.
Final Thoughts
Overall I had a wonderful time seeing CORTIS this last weekend in Atlanta. In fact, CORTIS is the last group to check off the list, now I’ve seen every band from BigHit Music. I truly see so much in the future for this group, I cannot wait to see how they progress since they are off to such an amazing start!
