K-Pop group CORTIS headlined the NBA Crossover Concert on Feb. 12, 2026, at the Los Angeles Convention Center, becoming one of the first K-Pop acts to take the opening stage of the NBA-affiliated event.
NBA Crossover is part of the league’s All-Star Weekend activities, aimed at merging basketball culture with music and fan engagement events. Held alongside the NBA All-Star festivities, the concert brings together artists around the world.
CORTIS, a rookie boy group under HYBE, debuted just over six months ago, but has quickly built an international following through a hip-hop-driven sound. Prior to their official debut, the members trained and developed early music in L.A., a period they describe as the starting point of their artistic ambitions.
For CORTIS, this was more than a commercial performance. It felt like a return to their origins. L.A. was where the group trained prior to their debut and began developing their early music, marking the starting point of their journey as artists.
During the talk segment, member Seonghyeon described the city as “like a second home” and became emotional while speaking, briefly breaking into tears as fans responded with supportive cheers. The concert also carried personal meaning, coming one day after member Keonho celebrated his 17th birthday. To celebrate, the fans spontaneously sang “Happy Birthday.”
On stage, CORTIS appeared in NBA collaborative sportswear and performed “What You Want,” “FaSHioN,” “GO!” and “JoyRide” back to back, rapidly raising the energy inside the venue. Much of the group’s music, including several songs from their debut, has been shaped by direct creative input from the members themselves.
The group also played their original soundtrack single “MENTION ME,” created for the film “Goat,” for the first time. The track hit with deep bass and sharp drops. The sound carried across the convention center and gave the performance an arena-level scale. During the encore, a remixed version of “GO!” kept the momentum high as members stepped off stage to interact with fans. Light sticks waved in unison, and the crowd stayed on its feet.
Toward the end of the concert, the group debuted an unreleased track, “Young Creator Crew.” Leader Martin Edwards shared that the song was written on the night of their debut and reflects the group’s growth over the past six months. Compared with the group’s earlier bass-heavy, high-intensity tracks, “Young Creator Crew” felt looser and more unrestrained.
The arrangement leaned into a freer structure, allowing each member space to deliver lines that highlighted their individual tone and personality. The chorus, built around the chant “영크크,” quickly became one of the night’s most memorable moments. Its unexpectedly playful yodel-inflected hook added a distinctive twist that set it apart from the group’s usual hip-hop-driven sound. Following the performance, clips of the chorus went viral on TikTok, where fans began mimicking the chant, suggesting that the track may resonate beyond the concert setting.
For audience members like Yimo Chen, a K-Pop fan from Beijing who attended specifically for CORTIS, the performance carried additional symbolic meaning. Chen said that while she does not follow the NBA closely, the scale and visibility of the setting shaped how she understood the moment.
“It’s like entering someone else’s cultural space,” Chen said, explaining that although she does not follow the NBA, the setting brought the group into what she described as a distinctly American arena.
According to Chen, appearing on an NBA platform gives K-Pop artists a different level of recognition. “If you come into my hometown and engage with what matters to me, that creates connection,” she said.
Chen’s reaction reflects a broader shift in how K-pop is positioning itself in the United States. Beyond touring and streaming numbers, appearances on major sports platforms suggest deeper integration into established American institutions. The NBA Crossover stage marked a new step for CORTIS and also for K-Pop, highlighting the growing overlap between global pop music and professional sports culture.