ALLDAY PROJECT Goes Full 2010s YG, Evoking BIGBANG and BLACKPINK

ALLDAY PROJECT, the group led by star producer TEDDY of THEBLACKLABEL, appears to be aiming for something big: a place in K-POP's next chapter as a kind of "post-BIGBANG, post-BLACKPINK" act. The group's new music draws on electronic hip-hop with sharp, addictive melodies, tapping into the nostalgia of fans who grew up on YG Entertainment artists in the 2000s and 2010s.

On Sept. 28 at 6 p.m. KST, ALLDAY PROJECT released its second mini-album, "CRASH." The EP includes five tracks, led by the title track of the same name.

The title track is an electro-dance-pop song built on short, looping synth lines. The most striking moment comes in the chorus, where a big, shouted call-and-response between male and female voices drives the hook. Members Tarzzan, Woochan, and Bailey are credited as co-writers. On the production side, TEDDY leads a team that includes Vince and 24.

Fan interest was high going in, since ALLDAY PROJECT had been on a nine-month break. Many listeners feel the wait was worth it. In the comments on the official music video on YouTube, fans wrote that the quality "makes the hiatus forgivable" and that the group came back "determined to show everything they do well." Another top comment read, "The long break is fine. The song is really good."

As with the group's earlier work, TEDDY served as executive producer on the new album. His fingerprints, shaped during his years at YG Entertainment building the musical identity of BIGBANG and BLACKPINK, are all over "CRASH."

That connection has not gone unnoticed. Many listeners have described the song as sounding like "old YG." One YouTube comment saying that the classic YG feel "you can't find at YG anymore" now lives only at THEBLACKLABEL drew more than 5,700 likes. Another popular comment read, "Maybe what we loved wasn't YG. It was TEDDY."

"CRASH" makes clear where TEDDY wants to place ALLDAY PROJECT: somewhere between the legacy of BIGBANG and BLACKPINK, but updated for today's industry.

The track updates the hip-hop-based electronic sound that defined YG acts in the 2000s and 2010s, but pushes it into a cleaner 2020s sound. Instead of leaning on a single repeated hook, the arrangement builds in layers, then suddenly drops away to leave only the vocals before filling out again. Those shifts pull the listener deeper into the song. The instrumentation is also stripped down. Where the older YG sound often centered on flashy synths and big EDM-style choruses, "CRASH" is built around bass and rhythm. With the arrangement simpler, the song uses layered crowd vocals to fill out the sound and give it weight.

The members' new look is also getting a strong reaction. Fans say the "green rookie" feel that lingered through the group's December 2024 release is gone.

Tarzzan in particular is drawing attention with the presence he has built through his modeling work. He has also moved away from styling choices influenced by other cultures that stirred controversy in the past, going with a simpler look that lets his own personality come through. Youngseo, who came across as a more standard idol image in the previous release, has pulled back on the exaggerated facial expressions and now carries a heavier, more grounded presence. One user on the social platform X captured the shift in a widely shared post: "She was clearly a pretty idol before, and suddenly she has the aura of a scary gang leader."

Beyond the title track, the EP includes a song that leans even harder into old-school YG nostalgia. "UP ALL NIGHT" is ALLDAY PROJECT's first acoustic-based song. From its opening moments, it recalls BLACKPINK's "STAY," with a similar acoustic guitar strumming pattern and a calm melodic build. TEDDY did not write the song himself, but his longtime collaborator Vince is among the producers behind the track, carrying that shared musical color forward.