Cortis achieves milestone as the first boy group nominee for MTV VMA 'Best New Artist' and 'Best K-pop'

CORTIS (Martin, James, Juhun, Seonghyeon, Geonho) was nominated in two categories, ’Best New Artist’ and ’Best K-Pop,’ at the major U.S. music awards show, the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards (2026 MTV VMA), just one year after their debut. CORTIS is the first K-pop boy group that debuted in the 2020s to be nominated for the MTV VMA. This awards show is considered one of the four major U.S. popular music awards alongside the Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, and Billboard Music Awards. In the ’Best New Artist’ category, they compete with Malcolm Todd, Myles Smith, Stella Lefty, and others. Additionally, the title track ’REDRED’ from their second mini-album was nominated for ’Best K-Pop,’ competing against five songs including BTS’s ’SWIM.’ CORTIS’s second mini-album ’GREENGREEN’ received positive responses both domestically and internationally. According to the latest chart released by Billboard on August 22, the album ranked 110th on the main album chart, the Billboard 200, remaining on the chart for 14 consecutive weeks. This is the longest charting record for a single album by a K-pop boy group that debuted within the last five years. On detailed charts, it ranked 2nd on the World Albums chart and 6th on the Top Album Sales chart. The title track ’REDRED’ ranked 136th on the Global 200 and 66th on the Global (excluding U.S.) chart. On the Artist 100 chart, it ranked 74th, and in its first week on May 23, it even reached 5th place. Their debut album ’COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES’ also ranked 7th on Billboard’s World Albums chart and 50th on the Top Album Sales chart. This album surpassed 700 million cumulative streams on Spotify as of the 16th, maintaining around 1.8 million daily streams for nearly a year since its release on September 8 last year. CORTIS celebrated their first anniversary on the 18th. To commemorate this, they will hold the ’2026 CORTIS TOUR PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN BIRTHDAY PARTY’ concert at Korea University Hwajeong Gymnasium in Seoul on the 22nd and 23rd. Following that, they will continue their tour from September 4 to 6 at Pia Arena MM in Kanagawa, Japan.