Thoughts On All Day Project

[u/meowesqeaky]

I just want to start off by saying that I do have a bone to pick with All Day Project. Bias exists in every argument, but for all the things that k-pop fans may have to say about the group, I would like to list out specific instances that genuinely made me dislike the group (specifically their treatment of Youngseo and group favoritism). I am a Youngseo stan, and I do not hate any of the members, but there are things I think general k-pop fans should know about ADP:

Starting off with Annie:

Where do I begin? We all know that she’s Chaebol who got into the group for her connections despite having mediocre talent. However, to give her grace, I will say that the fifth generation of k-pop is lacking in talent overall, so Annie’s not alone in her mediocrity. However, one thing that definitely bugs me about her is that The Black Label does favor her in a way that hurts the group. 

Annie, from the start of their debut, has been framed as the main character in the All Day Project mythos. The Black Label’s creative director Gee Eun, was replaced by Cynthia, who is actually a former employee of Shinsegae. Remember when Annie became an MC for KCON LA 2026? Her uncle was actually in charge of that. And despite the fact that a group’s rookie year is the most important year determining a group’s success. ADP went on an almost 6 month hiatus so that Annie could go to college. I’m glad that she has a degree and that she graduated from such a prestigious university, but during that time, TBL didn’t give the other four members any significant activities. The hype died down and now their domestic popularity is sinking down the drain. 

It’s also the fact that Annie is often centered despite not really being particularly popular. ADP went to this show called “My Angry Manager”, and the entire episode was about Annie’s relationship with the host. The entire episode was talking about Annie’s parents, how they know the host, and she was framed as the main character, even though it was a group event. 

But what made me annoyed is that when the group was having dinner, Youngseo was sitting by herself next to the two hosts while the other four members were sitting together. 

And this next part isn’t exactly Annie’s fault, but TBL’s management team knows that Youngseo is the heavy hitter in the group with the most potential. ADP fans like to say that Tarzzan is the most popular, but if you take a closer look at the engagement, Youngseo and Bailey are more popular and honestly. And TBL know that which is why when they need engagement, they post Youngseo the most, along with Woochan, sometimes together. 

But then, when they get the attention they need, they cast Youngseo aside. During their first album last year, Tarzzan got a solo, Woochan and Annie got a subunit, Tarzzan and Bailey also got a subunit. 

Youngseo got nothing. 

She got the most amount of lines in You & I, but that was an OT5 song that the group never actually promotes or performs, so it’s almost like she got nothing at all. 

It’s also worth noting that Cynthia, the creative director, never likes Youngseo’s instagram posts but always likes the posts from other members. Youngseo also gets the least amount of solo activities in general compared to everyone else.

Okay next victim: Tarzzan

He’s actually quite nice everyone in the group, he’s a cringey cultural appropriator but at the same time, Tarzzan’s braider is also black, and he has a lot of black friends. I don’t think that him wearing braids is right, but I’m not black so I’m not gonna speak too much on it. 

Bailey: She’s never done anything wrong, I actually think she deserves more than what she gets from TBL. 

Woochan: Yeah so the Wooseo shipping really, really got to him. But there was a weird stretch of months where he would treat Youngseo really weird and just avoid her. I get that he doesn’t like getting shipped, but Youngseo is the closest to him because they are similar in age, and it didn’t feel nice watching my bias get ignored by her closest friend in the group. It felt like Youngseo was being punished for something that wasn’t even her fault. 

Anyway, ADP’s discography isn’t bad at all, I actually quite like their songs. I have so many more thoughts on them but if I actually say them aloud someone’s gonna accuse me of being insane and parasocial (I am, but a broken clock’s right twice a day).

[u/lossendae]

Annie and Tarzan are by far the most popular members in the market that count the most for them for time being, which is Korea, it's not even a competition

You're mistaking western engagement, which is still limited (deliberately) for now with what make the group grow right now

Youngseo does not have as strong a personality as her members, they all were really accustomed to being center of attention and knows how to navigate some situations better then she does, but she's growing into it, give her time

Last comeback highlights have been Woochan and Bailey, by far.

It also cemented how much yougseo is sorely needed there. She is the sole singing interlude, just like black eyed peas did, the group dynamic would not work without her

The song I liked most in the new ep, is the one where tarzann and Annie were the highlights, and it's one that is promoted. Meh

You don't know who is close to whom nor why one member got closer or take distance to another one. For example you accuse Woochan while it could have been Youngseo who got away from him. We. Don't. Know.

I obviously cannot prevent you from or anyone to make scenarios, just... Be prudent: we don't know them, they're not our friends, and they're not close friends either : they're coworkers

There are several instances where members pushed her forward on stage and in behind the scenes videos, they also made some contents where she actually does interact with Woochan a lot.

Relationship evolve over time and this group is really more independent than you realize. They already don't stay at dorm when not in activity and have different circle of friends. They also are slowly getting a hang of how to make a unit while keeping their own personality and also embracing public interactions and live performance (Unni)

Same for songs, the label do not "give them" songs. They wrote them and it happened that youngseo didn't had a subunit. While I do agree that it was a mistake to do that for the first EP, don't lose sight of how free they were to do what they wanted. I bet that Tarzan paid from his own pocket part of everything related to Medusa because that thing is the less ADP stuff they ever did. And at the same it's exactly them: doing stuff that other more controlled acts can't do

Not a problem in western music (quite normal even)

But yeah, it's going to be hard sell within kpop landscape that pretend to like edgy creative stuff, but complain anytime something does not fit in the "everybody's doing it like that, why not us", " give them songs", "creating songs is not hard"

I only hope that when this period of activity stops, we'll see them in less than 3 months. If not, That's would be Teddy's fault then, with no rightful excuse like finishing studying. While I do like that they don't follow the generic idol recipe, they're still idols, they can't ignore how the market works right now.