Okay, I’ve gotta talk about this — the 2025 end-of-year award season just served up one of the messiest moments in recent K-pop history. Newcomer ALLDAY PROJECT (ADP) snagged a Daesang at the Korea Grand Music Awards (KGMA) in the “Grand Honors Choice” category, and fans are not having it.
Why the uproar? ADP debuted less than six months ago, and Daesangs (Grand Prizes like Album/Artist of the Year) are usually reserved for artists with years of momentum behind them. The win exploded across social media after clips of other artists reacting with visible confusion or eye-rolls circulated — the group even picked up the mocking nickname “All Paid Project.”
There are two main reasons fans are suspicious:
- Family ties: Member Annie Moon is a great-granddaughter of Samsung’s founder and her grandmother is the chairwoman of a major Korean retail conglomerate. That reality has fans asking whether influence or money played a role.
- Past controversies: Member Chaewon Lee (stage name Tarzzan) has been criticized for cultural appropriation (e.g., frequently wearing braids/cornrows), misogynistic lyrics, and a viral clip that allegedly replaces words with the N-word. Neither Tarzzan nor THEBLACKLABEL (ADP’s label) has publicly addressed these allegations.
To be fair, this award season wasn’t all controversy. Stray Kids crushed it with three Daesangs across the major shows (including Album of the Year at both MAMA and AAA and Artist of the Year at AAA), plus several other awards. ENHYPEN also took home their first-ever Daesang at MAMA and gave a heartfelt speech to ENGENE.
There was another sombre backdrop: MAMA was held in Hong Kong shortly after a deadly fire there, and many artists and labels (including Stray Kids and ENHYPEN) donated to relief efforts. The ceremony went ahead with adjustments out of respect for victims.
At the end of the day, award shows are always going to be debated — who “deserves” what is subjective — but the ADP situation highlights a real issue fans talk about all the time: how wealth, family connections, and industry influence can affect opportunities. Whether ADP literally bought the award? We don’t know. But the optics are undeniably messy.
Quick fan-ready context
- Daesang = Grand Prize at Korean year-end awards; the top honor at shows like MAMA, AAA, and KGMA.
- MAMA = Mnet Asian Music Awards; AAA = Asian Artist Awards; KGMA = Korea Grand Music Awards — three of the big year-end ceremonies for K-pop.
- THEBLACKLABEL is the indie label founded by producers Teddy and Kush and has close ties to YG, known for producing and promoting high-profile artists.
- ENHYPEN’s fandom name is ENGENE (pronounced “engine”), and Stray Kids’ fandom is called STAY — both fandoms were active in celebrating and donating this season.
Love this industry, but damn, can we have transparent award systems and accountability when controversies pop up? Until then, Twitter and the fandoms will keep debating.
Source: The Central Trend