In an industry built on polish and precision, “intentional rawness” is perhaps the last quality one may expect from Cortis, one of the hottest rookies under HYBE’s BigHit Music, home to BTS and Tomorrow X Together.

But that is exactly the direction that the boy band has taken with “RedRed,” its latest release and, according to the members, a blueprint, or a “manifesto” for where it hopes to go next. Building on the momentum of its explosive debut last year, the “young creator crew” says the song defines what it stands for.

“We’ve fleshed out what didn’t feel like us and what we didn’t want to pursue and crossed those things off one by one,” said member James during a press showcase at Yes24 Live Hall in eastern Seoul on Monday. “Through that process, we came to understand more clearly the message that we truly want to deliver and the direction that we want to pursue.”

The group, consisting of Martin, James, Juhoon, Seonghyeon and Keonho, debuted in August of last year as BigHit Music’s first new boy band in six years following Tomorrow X Together’s debut in 2019.

Cortis’s debut EP, “Color Outside the Lines” (2025), sold 2.07 million copies as of April — a record for any debut album by a K-pop act.

“RedRed,” the lead track of its upcoming second EP “GreenGreen,” was released at 6 p.m. on Monday, ahead of the album’s full release on May 4. The album has already racked up over 2 million physical preorders, according to BigHit Music.

“It’s an album that we filled with what we truly love [...] while ruling out those we wish to stay away from,” said Keonho. echoing James’s remarks. “We made this album through intense and careful deliberation. Because each of us poured our honest feelings [into the album], we hope that you’ll look forward to it.”

The upcoming EP features six tracks: the lead track “RedRed,” along with B-sides “TNT,” “ACAI,” “YoungCreatorCrew,” “Wassup” and “Blue Lips.”

Cortis was heavily involved in the creative process of “GreenGreen,” from the songwriting to the concept and direction behind the photo shoots and music videos.

As a result, all five members are credited for the songwriting and lyrics for the lead single, which they describe as the starting point of their journey to explore their artistic identity.

In the song, the color red represents everything that Cortis hopes to avoid — such as “being easily swayed,” as mentioned in its lyrics — while green stands for what the group aspires to.

“We wanted to create a new texture sound-wise, something raw and unrefined, so we tried implementing instruments and rhythms that we hadn’t used before,” said James, describing the track’s unruly, chaotic and “cracked” sound as “intentional rawness.”

“Rather than starting with a fixed idea, we went through a wide range of experiments and research, and I think that process led to songs with very diverse sounds,” said leader Martin. “I feel like we’ve written this song [‘RedRed’] almost like a kind of a manifesto.”

The group’s moniker, the “young creator crew,” also inspired one of the upcoming album’s most anticipated B-sides.

“YoungCreatorCrew,” yet to be officially released, was first introduced through the group’s February performance in Los Angeles, drawing attention online for its addictive hook and seemingly unruly, autotune-heavy sound. The song was created spontaneously during a freestyle songwriting session on the day of its debut showcase last August, according to the members.

Cortis has had an impressive career since its high-profile debut. The group’s first EP ranked at No. 15 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, the second-highest position ever for a debut album by a K-pop act. The quintet also became the first K-pop act to headline the NBA All-Star event at the NBA Crossover Concert Series in California in February.

Cortis is set to perform at Lollapalooza Chicago this summer.

Looking ahead, Martin said that the rookie act hopes to “become a group that symbolizes something unique to us, and the kind of artists that make people think, ‘I want to go see this team perform.’”

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]