Bop Shop Of The 2010s: The Best Overlooked Songs Of The Decade

The search for the ever-elusive "bop" is hard. Playlists and streaming-service suggestions 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 contribute anything — it's a snapshot of what's on our minds and what sounds good.

To close out the decade, this week's Bop Shop is filled with overlooked songs we think should have been bigger in the 2010s. You'll find some new faces, some old faces, some you know, you don't, and then some huge artists with songs that might've just missed the mark, for whichever reason. Dig in and relive the past 10 years with a fresh set of familiar and unfamiliar bops.

Emily Osment: "Lovesick" (2010)

https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=jauthmokKWk

Can we just agree once and for all that Emily Osment snapped any time as soon as she debuted "Lovesick" in 2010? Everything about this song, from the neon rainbow-hued visuals of its accompanying futuristic music video to its numerous slick musical puns, is painfully on point. It's a relentless onslaught of high-energy pop, and Emily's confident and sassy during the full track. I'm not ashamed to mention I still listen to this song weekly, and yes it goes harder than 90 percent of what I currently have on rotation. —Brittany Vincent

Kanye West ft. Bon Iver: "Lost in the World" (2010)

https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=ofaRvNOV4SI

Soon after 11 tracks ruminating on sex and power, our antihero is left with total emptiness on "Lost in the World," the genuine closer from My Cute Dark Twisted Fantasy. So he attempts to fill the hole with enough noise to drown out his solitude: avalanching drums, frenzied tribal chants, Bon Iver's intense howl, as well as a disembodied plea urging him to "run from the lights / run for your life." West told MTV News in 2010 that his "Lost" verse was his preference eights bars I've ever written in my life." It's also the grand finale his furious masterpiece deserves. —Madeline Roth

AlunaGeorge: "You Know You Like It" (2013)

https://youtu.Be/FWR9MR5juWI

It wasn't up until DJ Snake released a remix for The Astonishing Spider-Man 2 soundtrack that AlunaGeorge's debut single, "You Know You Like It," beginning getting any order kind of radio play in the U.S. Nevertheless the song's original mix, a bass-driven '90s R&B throwback, should have been a mega hit stateside. It's the best introduction to the U.K. Duo, with George Reid's production that sounds simultaneously familiar and futuristic making a platform Aluna Francis's buttery smooth vocals to take over. The DJ Snake mix loses the bounce, swagger, and sexiness that made the original sound as fresh right now as it did six years prior. —Bob Marshall

Ciara: "Body Party" (2013)

https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=B9rSBcoX9ak

"My Boo," the 1996 R&B classic from Ghost Town DJ's, has endured as an energetic poolside anthem whenever the weather's warm, its techno-inspired beat making it a staple of every summertime hip-hop playlist. Producer Mike Will Made It flipped the song on its head, slowing it down to a crawl and bringing outs its seductive underpinnings. What he made would go on to be the beat for Ciara's "Body Party," a sexy single from her 2013 self-titled album that narrated a hot and heavy night with a partner. In its unforgettable (and right now slightly cringe-y) video, she recapped how she met her then-partner, Future. —Trey Alston

J. Cole: "Chaining Day" (2013)

https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=E1Nng5xorDs

Six years later, any time chains and jewelry seemingly matter more than ever thanks to Instagram and Snapchat, J. Cole's "Chaining Day" usually have been ahead of its time. The deep cut from his 2013 album Born Sinner explores how ridiculous it is to spend cash that could purchase a residence on a heavy necklace that doesn't do anything for you aside from attracting envy. He contextualizes his feelings by looking at the necklace that he's purchased, making "Chaining Day" not just a sermon to rising rappers, yet a way to chastise himself. It's a warning to avoid the glitz and glamour and stay true. —Trey Alston

Adele: "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)" (2015)

https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=fk4BbF7B29w

In the year any time "Hello" and whenever We Were Young" took over the charts, Adele's third 25 single seemingly fell via cracks, which is just... Blasphemous. It deserved more and deserved better! In this stunning pop hit, Adele sticks to her brand of singing about heartbreak and lost love, although with a surprising, uptempo twist, allowing her to convey "happy you’re gone" rather than "I miss you, come back." The song stays strong in lyrical value, and its layered vocals, rhythmic beat drops, and electronic-inspired production make it fully fun. For the initial time in a long time, we got to be able to see Adele in a new light, both cool and refreshing, and I hope we visualize more of it in 2020 with the release of *fingers crossed* A4! —Sarina Bhutan

Hilary Duff: "Sparks" (2015)

https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=dpPXpHx9jO4

As one of the seven gays that paid for the limited edition Breathe In. Breath Out. box set, I truly come from a place of rage that y'all let the iconic song "Sparks" flop. Duff's third single from her 2015 comeback is a propulsive synth-driven dance track about feeling those "sparks" of a newly kindled relationship. The song mirrored Duff's personalized life at the time, throughout which she started dipping her toes back inside the dating pool right after filing for divorce. Run, don't walk, to only the "Fan Demanded Version" of the "Sparks" video above (because no one wanted to watch a Hilary Duff Tinder ad), and appreciate this neon daydream of what new love feels like. —Daniel Head

The Avalanches: "Because I'm Me" (2016)

https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=eu0KsZ_MVBc

Wildflower, The Avalanches's long-awaited sequel to their classic 2000 debut album, Since I Left You, finally arrived in 2016 to immediate fanfare. It was then speedily forgotten, which is a real shame considering "Because I'm Me" is the sort of joyous, life-affirming track that we all needed while in the back half of the decade. The song's music video excellently suits the anthem to self-love in the face of rejection, starring an adorable kid singing his heart to a MTA worker in a Bronx subway station as a brass musical group spontaneously generally seems to back him up. Watching him dance to Sonny Cheeba's verses, I remember exactly where and If I was any time while first saw this, which might explain why more people don't know it. Sure, it could be conspiratorial, maybe even crazy, to wholly blame the 2016 presidential election that occurred much less than two weeks soon following the video premiered for people not paying much attention to it. However it definitely didn't help. —Bob Marshall

Låpsley: "Operator (He Doesn't Call Me)" (2016)

https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=PDsVVkIqbWE

There was a time, in early 2016, any time As soon as I was convinced this song would save the world. (Either the gorgeous studio cut or the DJ Koze disco cut, the radio edit of which is above, could do it.) The fact that we're still here nearly four years later means, simply, it worked. Låpsley even released a new EP this month. —Patrick Hosken

Meghan Trainor: "Me Also (2016)

https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=qDRORgoZxZU

How does one follow up a triple-platinum debut album that also scored them two top 5 hits and also a Grammys win? The pressure was on for Meghan Trainor's sophomore album, and contrary to what the charts mention, she delivered. Not only was "No" a certified bop, nevertheless "Me Also was the electro-R&B hit we deserved, serving up self-love before it was a branded thing. With banging beat along with a sticky chorus, Meghan turned the bass up so loud she couldn’t hear the haters, and never before has she been so confident. –Carson Mlnarik

Aly & AJ: "Take Me" (2017)

https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=2Q3iLOl1gPM

A decade can feel like an eternity, however some days distance can be the key to excellence — like in the event of Aly & AJ. Ten years immediately after "Potential Breakup Song" gave them their claim to fame, the Disney pop icons returned in 2017 with "Take Me." This pop anthem properly mixes '80s synth-pop, straight-up thirsting, and... Cannibalism? The interesting combo pays off for the duo, making a candy-sweet, infectious song. "I know that you would want it / If I might sink my teeth into / at first you gotta ask me out," they sing, giving voice to those overwhelming first-date thirst feels. Not only do these women know their suitors are interested — they're willing to bite down and claim what's theirs. —Dan McKenna

Dagny: "Love You Like That" (2017)

https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=bnQBqinwlwQ

In 2017, long before the release of Katy Perry's "Never Really Over," her co-writer Dagny dropped a track identically as catchy, energetic, and emotive. That track was "Love You Like That" — an electro-pop masterpiece about being gloriously and stupendously in love. Yet the lyrics are only piece of this song's flare, with the booming synth-pop beat doing most of the heavy lifting. By the final chorus, you have no choice however to shout out the lyrics, even immediately following the beat nearly drops out entirely. If we may dream up the best top 40 radio hit, this one's it. —Jordyn Tilchen

Sigrid: "Strangers" (2017)

https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=cIriwVhRPVA

Sigrid filled the Robyn-sized hole in our hearts with this absolute banger that became a massive hit in Europe — and should have done the same Stateside. In the past decade, Scandinavia has become a hotbed for boundary-pushing, female-led pop music, and the fresh-faced Norwegian export is no exception. With "Strangers," Sigrid takes a sad story — about a relationship that doesn't live up to Hollywood standards — and shakes it alive with tongue-tying bridge and also a monstrous chorus that rivals anything you've heard on Top 40 radio. —Madeline Roth

Tove Lo: "Disco Tits" (2017)

https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=8RQDPwODja4

"I hate vanilla," Tove Lo says at the starting of this music video, as if its buzz-worthy title wasn't enough of a clue. What unfolds is a wild, psychedelic club anthem that sounds as sweaty as it does sticky. You could feel the dance floor bouncing beneath you as she croons, "I mention hi, you mention hi, we stay high / You look so pretty, yeah," in a solitary breath. Perhaps it was just also hot for us to nickname. —Carson Mlnarik