Rookie Group CORTIS Re-enters Billboard 200, Proving 'Rookie of the Year' Status

Rookie boy group CORTIS is making waves, re-entering the prestigious US Billboard main chart, the 'Billboard 200,' after just over a month. This remarkable feat solidifies their claim as 'Rookie of the Year.'

The group's debut album, ‘COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES,’ featuring members Martin, James, Junghoon, Seunghyun, and Gunho, reappeared on the Billboard 200 for the week of December 6th, landing at an impressive 121st place. This marks a significant achievement, especially following their initial entry at 171st place (dated October 25th) after their US promotional activities, showcasing the group's consistent growth and momentum.

Industry analysts attribute this resurgence to the group's strong presence at awards ceremonies, engaging original content spanning long and mid-form videos, and their appearance on fashion magazine covers, all of which have attracted a new wave of fans. The album previously debuted at 15th place on the Billboard 200 (dated September 27th) and remained on the chart for two weeks, setting a record for the highest debut album performance by a K-pop group, excluding project teams.

Furthermore, ‘COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES’ demonstrated strong physical sales, climbing 30 spots to 14th on the 'Top Album Sales' chart and 19 spots to 13th on the 'Top Current Album Sales' chart compared to the previous week. It also secured the 4th position on the 'World Albums' chart, reflecting their global popularity.

Approximately three months after its release, the album has surpassed 1.06 million cumulative sales according to the Circle Chart, making CORTIS the only debut artist this year to achieve million-seller status with a single album. Their global appeal is further highlighted by exceeding 200 million total streams on Spotify as of November 27th.

CORTIS continues to make a strong impression at year-end awards shows. They won the 'Best New Artist' award at the '2025 MAMA AWARDS' held in Hong Kong last month. Their performance from the event is currently ranking fourth in viewership among this year's award show videos on the Mnet K-POP YouTube channel, drawing significant attention.

Fans are celebrating CORTIS's return to the Billboard 200, commenting, 'As expected from CORTIS! Amazing to be back on the Billboard 200,' 'The 'Rookie of the Year' title is well-deserved,' and 'I'm even more excited for their future!' showing strong support.