Lous And The Yakuza’s Kate Bush Nod, Hope Tala’s ‘Crazy’ Voice, And More Songs We Love

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.

• Quinton Brock: “To the Moon”
  https://youtu.be/9p5NOhYBrE4

  In the lead-up to “To the Moon,” newcomer Quinton Brock repeatedly tweeted how it would “change rock music forever.” Now, it’s here, and the peppy single synthesizes plenty of alt spirit into an undeniably charming ember of a song. Like his peers Jean Dawson and Bartees Strange, Brock is one to watch for his commitment to chasing the sounds he wants to emulate and coming up with something singularly resonant. —Patrick Hosken

• Lous and the Yakuza: “Amigo”
  https://youtu.be/PNGwThvjadY

  Recording as Lous and the Yakuza, the Brussels-based, Belgian-Congolese artist Marie Pierra-Kakoma’s subtle, snappy R&B is a conceptual and cultural confluence. Sharing a producer with Rosalía and shifting effortlessly between French, English, and Kinyarwanda (spoken in the Congo and Rwanda), she sings with old-world refinery and a contemporary flow, while her visuals are similarly referential. The arresting choreography in “Amigo,” off her debut album Gore (out today), signifies a transformation, with more than a nod to Kate Bush’s legendary “Wuthering Heights” video. —Coco Romack

• Skipper Jones ft. King Elway: “Riot Fires”
  https://youtu.be/fKL2JD9DFDg

  The lyrics to Skipper Jones’s “Riot Fire” are at once striking and healing. An up-tempo snare modernizes a track infused with gospel. It’s stitched together with brutal honesty featuring raspy lines like “It’s open season on Black lives” and “‘All lives matter’ is a protest to my anger” that hold a mirror to society. Accompanied by the Georgia rapper King Elway, the pair call into question America’s moral code, while marginalized people are made to play Russian roulette for freedom. “We’re trying to raise our kids up in better times,” Elway raps, “but we’re stuck in a system that was built up to let us down.” Protests and “riot fire,” like rap, are the sermons of the streets, revealing the stories often criminalized or cast aside. —Virginia Lowman

• Hope Tala: “Crazy”
  https://youtu.be/dO3aiVzEYQc

  Even as she channels her influences, London’s Hope Tala has a voice all her own. On the lovely “Crazy,” Tala’s voice is the jewel in wide downbeat bedrock, and the tiny sonic flourishes that amplify her perspective — layered crooning, slyly busy percussion — make the whole four-minute affair a bountiful feast. —Patrick Hosken

• Watson: “All Falls Down”
  https://youtu.be/CelBA0HLaRg

  Rising alt-rapper Watson’s new single might be called “All Falls Down,” but his music career has been nothing but a come-up. He scored his big break on the way to work at Jersey Mikes, dropping everything to hit the studio with hit-maker Brian Lee to write tracks for Post Malone and 21 Savage. His latest bop is a moody, sexy banger in the vein of Posty, recounting the wreckage left by a lover he still can’t get off his mind. It’s as haunting as it is vibey, and it’s a good preview of what’s to come from his forthcoming follow-up to this year’s EP, Hallelujah, I’m Free. —Carson Mlnarik

• Puma Blue: “Snowflower”
  https://youtu.be/TkWlbTLA2IM

  Jacob Allen, who records skeletal and fragile electronic-tinged music as Puma Blue, goes full wraith on “Snowflower,” a groove as delicate as the gold leaf that falls on his sleeping face in the video. Like the equally sparse “Velvet Leaves,” it’s another preview of his 2021 debut, In Praise of Shadows, that promises to probe further into this eerie musical mind. —Patrick Hosken

• Orla Gartland: “Pretending”
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG6YJJMs3sw

  Impostor syndrome and self-doubt are common threads in London singer-songwriter Orla Gartland’s discography. “Why Am I Like This” is a personal favorite, but her new single “Pretending” charts the same relatable waters with even more confidence and edge. “I’m so fucking self-aware / It’s exhausting,” she sings before bursting into a plucky, vulnerable chorus about swearing off pretending to be someone else. The adorably quirky visual, set in a bathroom at a Halloween party, perfectly captures the feeling of being an outsider; and it’s festive! —Carson Mlnarik

• Tini ft. John C: “Duele”
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqaLwY2Ok4M

  The heavenly visuals; the full two minutes of head-turning, rattling pop; the charisma of Tini herself, who brought her style to a recent MTV Instagram livestream performance — despite the title, when “Duele” bumps, nothing hurts. —Patrick Hosken

• Claud: “Gold”
  https://youtu.be/SiXQyIbaPa0

  Rust on gold is physically impossible, but Claud doesn’t care. The nonbinary, indie-pop singer defies the laws of chemistry in their latest cut, a mellow, self-aware take on a doomed relationship with an absolute earworm of a chorus. (“Gold” is their first release under Saddest Factory, Punisher songstress Phoebe Bridgers’s new record label.) “I’m too optimistic when I think that this’ll work out / Without anothеr emotional night where we both break down,” Claud confesses, which — ouch. Too real? Chase the burn with the song’s campy, pastel-hued visuals. —Sam Manzella

• Sylo Nozra: “Ginny”
  https://youtu.be/csCXaW-b1jw

  I’m a sucker for any song that includes my nickname, but Korean-Canadian artist Sylo Nozra’s “Ginny” is seriously intoxicating, as much as it is soothing — it’s sonic whiskey. A synth-pop beat married with lo-fi and R&B influences, Nozra’s sleepy bedroom vocals make the song irresistible. You want to dance, but you also want to lay down and send a racy text. It’s a cocktail of bliss that goes down smooth and is best played on repeat. —Virginia Lowman

• Reason ft. Rapsody: “I Can Make It”

  With a string of solid singles featuring Vince Staples, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, and more, California-based rapper Reason has been building up the anticipation for his latest release New Beginnings all year. He delivers throughout the entire project, which dropped last Friday, but especially soars with help from Rapsody and Desi Mo on standout “I Can Make It.” Spitting bars about flexing through adversity, it’s the track’s sticky chorus that’ll loop over and over in your head. “I can make your wrongs feel right / I can make the lonely dark times feel bright,” he begins. Desi swoops in with an answer: “I can make your lows feel good.” —Carson Mlnarik