CORTIS Debuts In Top 3 Of Billboard 200 With “GREENGREEN,” Making It Their First Top 10 Album
CORTIS has broken into the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for the very first time!
On May 17 local time, Billboard announced that CORTIS’s new EP “GREENGREEN” had debuted at No. 3 on its Top 200 Albums chart, which ranks the most popular albums in the United States.
“GREENGREEN” is CORTIS’s first album to enter the top 10 of the Billboard 200 and their second chart entry overall, following their debut EP “COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES” (which peaked at No. 15).
“GREENGREEN” also debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, meaning it was the best-selling album of the week in the United States.
According to Luminate (formerly Nielsen Music), “GREENGREEN” earned a total of 87,000 equivalent album units during the week ending on May 14, marking the group’s biggest week in the United States to date. The EP’s total score consisted of 81,500 traditional album sales—a new career high for CORTIS—and 5,500 streaming equivalent album (SEA) units, which translates to 5.91 million on-demand audio streams over the course of the week.
CORTIS’s “GREENGREEN” Sells Over 1 Million Copies In One Day
Just one day into their comeback, CORTIS’s new EP is already a “million-seller”!
On May 4, CORTIS returned with their second EP “GREENGREEN.” (In what marked the first comeback of their career, the group pre-released the EP’s title track “REDRED” two weeks in advance.)
According to Hanteo Chart, “GREENGREEN” sold an impressive total of 1,196,961 copies on its first day of sales alone, making it CORTIS’s first album ever to surpass 1 million sales in the first week of its release.
Notably, “GREENGREEN” nearly quintupled CORTIS’s previous first-day sales record of 247,295 set by their debut EP “COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES” last year.
Congratulations to CORTIS on their successful first comeback!
Exclusive: CORTIS Talks About Their Inspirations And Forming Their Identity Through Honest Music At Press Showcase For “GREENGREEN”
CORTIS is gearing up for their highly-anticipated comeback!
On April 20, CORTIS held the press showcase for their second mini album “GREENGREEN.”
In the Q&A session at their press showcase, the members emphasized being honest and raw in expressing themselves for their latest album—discussing how they’ve grown through the comeback while experimenting with different sounds and genres.
The members began by sharing how they came to choose the themes “GREENGREEN” and “REDRED,” which blossomed from James’s initial suggestion and was developed to further represent the dichotomy of what CORTIS dislikes versus what they support.
Regarding the title track “REDRED,” Martin shared, “I’m confident that it will do well.” Seonghyeon further mentioned that all five members participated in producing the album, capturing the members’ various tastes. Keonho reflected on the group’s growth and CORTIS’s experiences since their debut such as headlining the NBA Crossover concert series in Los Angeles, expressing how their thoughts and preferences became more clear over time.
Keonho discussed working on the album simultaneously while being busy with promotions for CORTIS. He shared, “We were out of ideas at one point, but we tried to make new experiences in our daily lives together.” Seonghyeon elaborated they refreshed themselves by going for walks, playing basketball, going to the theaters and eating popcorn, and working in open places. When the MC jokingly mentioned Martin’s advantage when it came to basketball, Martin added, “I’m working hard on my dunks.”
Regarding the catchy choreography, James commented, “When making the choreo, the hook is the important part. We thought it should be easy to follow along like the song’s hook.” Martin brought up the importance of originality in their self-produced music video for “REDRED,” such as wanting to capture the old streets of Seoul and their raw selves. Seonghyeon mentioned, “Keonho and Martin wore the restaurant owner’s apron, and the people walking past were curious about what we were filming.” Martin added, “I remember someone tried to say it was for a college project.”
The members elaborated on the “raw” concept of the upcoming album, which reflects their desire to be honest—an element Martin wanted to highlight as CORTIS’ strength. James shared, “When you look at the concept photos, you can see our natural skin. We did just the minimum makeup while taking the photos as we wanted to show our real selves—it was okay if our dark circles showed.”
Juhoon also talked about performing as their strength saying, “It’s one of our favorite parts. Performing in front of fans face-to-face is what we enjoy.” James further talked about how the group can communicate more with fans through the album, saying their workflow became much smoother through producing this second mini album. The members also touched upon receiving strength from TXT while filming a challenge together, saying they told CORTIS to promote in good health.
On CORTIS’s new achievement of surpassing 2 million stock pre-orders for “GREENGREEN,” the members talked about how they heard the news, such as Keonho getting a call from his mom while Seonghyeon got a message from his dad. Keonho added, “I feel so grateful and happy to receive so much love and interest so early.”
When asked about the group’s popularity abroad, Martin reminisced about the NBA Crossover stage, sharing, “Fans abroad knew our songs well. We showcased ‘YOUNGCREATORCREW’ for the first time, and they jumped along.”
Finally,answering the question about when they feel inspired, James emphasized, “Rather than waiting, first, we start creating.” Martin remarked, “We get inspiration everywhere from our daily lives,” adding, “We want to make people think, ‘I want to see their performance.’” Juhoon added, “We get our inspiration from scheduled activities, performances, and activities abroad. ‘Wassup’ is one of our B-sides, and we portrayed our inspiration there.”
CORTIS will make their comeback with “GREENGREEN” on May 4. Ahead of the comeback, they will release their title track “REDRED” on April 20 at 6 p.m. KST. Check out teasers here!
CORTIS Surpasses 2 Million Stock Pre-Orders For “GREENGREEN”
CORTIS’s upcoming EP is on track to become a “double-million seller”!
On April 15, BIGHIT MUSIC announced that according to CORTIS’s album distributors YG PLUS and Universal Records, the rookie boy group’s upcoming mini album “GREENGREEN” had recorded a total of 2,020,224 stock pre-orders as of April 13.
The number of stock pre-orders is the amount of album stock that is produced prior to an album’s release. The figure is the estimated demand calculated using various factors, including how many albums were pre-ordered by fans.
Earlier this month, CORTIS broke the record for the best-selling debut album in K-pop history with their first mini album “COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES.” According to Circle Chart data, the EP had sold a total of 2,060,963 copies as of April 4, making it only the second debut album ever to sell over 2 million copies (after ZEROBASEONE’s “YOUTH IN THE SHADE”).
With three weeks still left to go before the release of “GREENGREEN” on May 4, it remains to be seen how much higher the mini album’s stock pre-orders will climb.
Meanwhile, CORTIS will kick off their first-ever comeback by pre-releasing their new title track “REDRED” on April 20 at 6 p.m. KST. Check out their latest teasers here!
