The search for the ever-elusive “bop” is difficult. Playlists and streaming-service recommendations can only do so much. They often leave a lingering question: Are these songs really good, or are they just new?Enter Bop Shop, a hand-picked selection of songs from the MTV News team. This weekly collection doesn’t discriminate by genre and can include anything it’s a snapshot of what’s on our minds and what sounds good. We’ll keep it fresh with the latest music, but expect a few oldies (but goodies) every once in a while, too. Get ready: The Bop Shop is now open for business.
Tonight’s the best night of our lives / Can you feel it? I can feel it, she passionately sings on the chorus. Like many of her early hits, Tonight is about a wild night out with her girlfriends. And though she may have taken a hiatus from her party-girl ways, this track makes it clear that the Kesha who stows wine in her backpack and looks for trouble like shes huntin for treasure is still very much with us. Jordyn Tilchen
Brooklyn neo-soul band Phony Ppl are already welcoming the end of cuffing season with “Fkn Around,” a groovy new tune dedicated to easy sex and no commitments. And as the world speculates about Megan Thee Stallion’s love life, she’s conveniently here to set the record straight. “Don’t ask questions if we just sexing / I got situations no confirmations / Everybody wanna know who Megan dating / Well that depends on whatever the date is.” Keep those strings away from Megan; shes not having them. Bob Marshall
Meghan Trainors long-anticipated third album, Treat Myself, is out, and you should treat yourself to the fifth track on the project, Workin On It, featuring Lennon Stella and Sasha Sloan. Stellas voice is immediately recognizable on the pre-chorus, bringing her best to the track, while Sloan compliments Trainor perfectly throughout the verses. The power behind three fierce pop singers admitting in the chorus that theyre workin on it is what we all need to hear at the end of a long day.
This song can calm your anxiety about not feeling good enough, while giving you the voice to let everyone know that youll make it through. It reassures you that theres light at the end of the tunnel, and to allow yourself to be kind to you on the way there. Workin On It is a thoughtful ballad while still managing to be a singable bop. These three songwriters, known for honesty and vulnerability in their lyrics, come together and deliver. Listen because you deserve it. Alissa Godwin
Once you’ve moved beyond the initial stages of pining over a “stupid boy” you thought you needed, it’s time to go on the offensive. He thought you couldn’t live without him? Guess again. Ashnikko struts confidently over a trap beat as she taunts her ex-lover with how totally over their relationship she actually is here, and it’s a big damn mood. Not only does she ghost him because she feels like it (“for no damn reason”), but in the end, nothing about him is even attractive to her anymore. The end result? That boy is left fantasizing about her, but he’s never gonna get it again. Yung Baby Tate brings it home with bars like a slap in the face. Stupid boy, you could literally never. Brittany Vincent
Music to fall in love with your best friends girl to is certainly not uncharted waters see Jessies Girl, My Best Friends Girl, and countless others. Somehow English indie-pop band Blossoms make the concept feel entirely new with Your Girlfriend, from their new album Foolish Loving Spaces. Dreaming about a friends bae with more charm than most movie stars, our narrator resigns himself to overanalyzing the details and could-bes as he tries to ignore the paper-thin bedroom walls. Its a short and sweet banger, breaking your heart and making you feel better in less than three minutes. Unrequited love has never sounded this jubilant. Carson Mlnarik
Its definitely the purple. The cadet-blue suit. Her huge voice exploding from such a compact frame. Christine and the Queens blew me away with People, Ive Been Sad. Its the most majestic depiction of being down that Ive ever heard, and ever since it crawled its way into my ears, it hasnt left. One of its best parts is the undercurrent of hope that radiates out of it. Shell be back feeling like herself in no time. Trey Alston
After spending 2019 in dark, moody caves (literally), 5SOS are back to their bright selves. The nu-metal and industrial edge on Easier and Teeth could only last so long now theyve traded in Nine Inch Nails worship for something closer to Third Eye Blind. No Shame in it, my dudes. Let all the breezy California guitar-pop take hold. Patrick Hosken