The group CORTIS has proven the power of a “monster rookie.” Among K-pop albums released this year, it has recorded the second-highest first-week sales after BTS, shaking up the music industry.

According to Hanteo Chart, a music sales tracking site, on the 11th, CORTIS’ second mini album, “GREENGREEN,” sold a total of 2,313,291 copies from the 4th to the 10th, topping the weekly album chart.

That is more than five times higher than the first-week sales of its debut album, “Color Outside the Lines,” released in September last year, which sold 436,367 copies. In particular, among K-pop albums released this year, it ranked second only to BTS’s 4.17 million copies with its fifth full-length album, “Arirang,” underscoring CORTIS’ explosive growth.

The success of CORTIS’ latest release was expected. “GREENGREEN” sold 1.2 million copies on its release day alone, instantly becoming a “million seller,” and within four days it had also earned the title of “double million seller.” For a rookie group that has not even been active for a full year, this is an unusual achievement.

The performance of the title track, “REDRED,” is also noteworthy. Pre-released on the 20th of last month, the song became the first K-pop boy group to debut within the past five years to enter Spotify’s “Spotify Daily Top Songs Global.” It also earned CORTIS its first music show trophy on Mnet’s “M Countdown” on the 30th of last month.

This achievement came before the official album release on May 4, making it especially meaningful because it was earned without album sales points, which are heavily influenced by fandom power, and relied only on streaming results, global social media and fan votes, and broadcast scores. It shows that CORTIS has gone beyond being merely a fandom-driven group and has become an artist that has captured the public’s attention as well.

From the time of its debut, CORTIS has described itself as a “Young Creator Crew (YCC)” that co-creates music, choreography, and videos. For “GREENGREEN” as well, all members were credited on the album and took part in creating the choreography and music video, building a distinctive identity.

With remarkable results achieved in less than a year since debut, CORTIS has proven its value. As the group combines exceptional creative skills with strong stage presence, global music fans are watching closely to see whether it can rise as a global icon following in the footsteps of its label seniors, BTS.