With over 5,000 songs on my iPhone’s “K-Pop Singles” playlist, I thought it would be fun to add a bit of unpredictability to my song review posts. So as a result, we have the “Random Shuffle Review” feature.
The rules are simple. I fire up my playlist, press “shuffle,” and whatever song plays first gets the full Bias List treatment!
Year Released: 2012
Yesterday, I wrote about Boyfriend’s mega-classic I Yah and lamented that this type of song simply doesn’t exist in K-pop anymore. My shuffle button seems to think it’s time for “part two,” because I could say the exact same thing about U-KISS’s DoraDora.
It’s worth taking a trip back to April of 2012. If DoraDora were released this year, it would surely be one of my top songs of 2025. However, it didn’t even crack the top three of that single month. That’s how often the industry was cranking out classics.
To me, a song like DoraDora is the sound of K-pop. It feels unique to this musical culture, blending genre elements into a brand new mix that can’t be found anywhere else. From the funky verses with their staccato hooks to that robust, rock-influenced chorus, the song unfolds in unexpected ways. The sound of the Korean language has a natural rhythm within tracks like these and DoraDora takes full advantage of that asset. I love how the listener has no idea how the song will unfold based on its first verse alone. It weaves and builds until it’s transformed into something new, but all the while its momentum and excitement continue to grow. There are no jarring transitions or blustery shouting or tinny percussion. DoraDora is a bold musical statement from start to finish and that ambition has stood the test of time. This is legitimately fascinating pop music — the kind that K-pop used to deliver on the regular.
| Hooks | 10 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 10 |
| RATING | 9.5 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Hi Nick! Since summer is here, I’d like to know your opinion about two summer songs you never talked about: Bahama by aespa and California dream by Chung Ha.
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Neither would be at the top of any of my summer playlists, but both are good and suit the season well. I think I prefer the Chungha song mostly because it reminds me of “California Gurls”
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man its been a while since i listened to this song, i should go back to it again
anyway could you give me your thoughts on these recent songs?
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Will probably touch on all three during the next global round-up 😉
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Oh, Marina (and the diamonds) also dropped a full album which has better “b sides” than its singles; did you catch a snippet of that?
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another iconic 2nd gen kpop song as per usual so its going into my playlist. random shuffle reviews are my favourite feature so far in this blog and the first thing i noticed was dora the explorer when i saw doradora as title😶🌫️
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Doradoradora the explorer.
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I like this one, but its more like mid8’s.
The reason is that listening back it has that classic 2nd gen sound, but so many of the elements are derivative of other 2nd gen songs. At the time I think I would have lumped in as “another one of this sort which is pretty good, but not super inventive”.
As the expert in the complete SuJu back catalog, I can hear at least two SuJu songs in here (Opera and Bonamana). I don’t have other groups ouevre as fluent but there are a few motifs I am hearing that also have precedence. It also doesn’t have as much tension or bite as the songs I would rank higher of the 2nd gen.
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urgh to think this was one of my least favourite ukiss title tracks back then… just shows how many bangers ukiss have
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to me, this is the 10 not I-yah (which I think overstays its welcome). Both are still better than most tracks being released nowadays
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