Sam Smith shows off their Ken side, Britney bites back, Slayyyter’s slay continues: Your weekly bop roundup

Listen, it’s Barbie week, of course, and while the glittery ‘plastic fantastic’ energy around this film is palpable, I can’t help but feel like it’s the end of an era for a string of “bop after bop” columns that consistently featured the incredible pop songs from this soundtrack each week.

Thankfully, this week graced us with THE gem of a track from the film, and probably the gayest of them all (if that’s even possible at this point). Alongside this, we have the return of pop music royalty, a queer ode to cannibalism (stay with me here), and conceptual releases from rising indie pop starlets.

Intrigued? I thought so! Read on to check out this week’s “bop after bop” queer new music roundup…

“Man I Am (From Barbie The Album)” by Sam Smith

The time has come: the Barbie movie is in cinemas worldwide, and alongside it, the Barbie soundtrack we have been covering for the past couple of months is out alongside it. High camp is at this film and its accompanying soundtrack’s core, and nothing quite embodies that more than Sam Smith’s addition to this iconic album, “Man I Am”. This one IS for the boys, with Smith playfully embodying Ken’s point of view with silly and frivolous ferocity, celebrating masculinity while also humorously toying with the stereotype atop a slick, sleazy club-driven 80’s beat. Touching on topics like six packs, office bros, strip clubs, and rumors about Ken’s orientation, the track is a borderline homoerotic homage, and we’ll absolutely be blasting this on the way to see the movie this weekend.

“MIND YOUR BUSINESS” by will.i.am and Britney Spears

It’s safe to say many were confused by the sudden release of new Britney music this week. Are we necessarily mad at it? That’s to be determined, but, hearing Brit back on a club-ready, bass-thumping pop track is always a welcomed return, and we’re living for the very blatant lyrics addressing those who constantly try and tear this pop icon down. Though a will.i.am collaboration track in 2023 for Britney’s return to pop was not on our radar (see what we did there?), we’re sure we’ll be hearing this bop on the dancefloor the rest of the summer, and if you don’t like it, mind your B.

“Miss Belladonna” by Slayyyter

Slayyyter is truly slaying with her current album campaign, which sees one of the gays’ favorite underground hyper pop girls making a serious play into full-on popstar territory. With the announcement of her next album, STARF*CKER, out in September, she delves deeper into her pop stardom with an extravagant Los Angeles starlet persona “Miss Belladonna”, alongside her new single of the same name. It’s a glossy, glamorous, powerful synth-driven electronic track that continues Slayyyter’s current love letter to the greatness of 80’s pop, and introduces us to her new femme fatale persona, and we can’t wait to get to know this diva even more.

“Famous Last Words (An Ode to Eaters)” by Ethel Cain

Can’t get Luca Guadagnino’s film Bones And All out of your head since seeing it last fall? Well, neither can Ethel Cain, so much so that she wrote a song about it. As the first single from Givenchy creative director Matthew Williams’ new 1017 ALYX 9SM collaboration project, Cain does what she does best on this track: takes us on a dizzy, slow-burning surrealist dive into Hayden Anhedönia’s crafted persona’s psyche (Ethel Cain), accompanied by her hypnotic vocal delivery and dreamlike guitars strums. If you haven’t heard of this conceptual rising queer musician, now is the time to listen up.

“Nada Mas Americano” by BABY YORS

Clad with a troupe of gorgeous drag queens, beaded red cowboy chaps, and a sparkling speedo, Baby Yors has dropped his new tongue-in-cheek track “Nada Mas Americano”. Poking fun at America’s excessive offense to anything outside the norm, the musician and visual artist based in both LA and NYC has crafted a maximalist, unabashed camp take on the classic Americana aesthetic, reclaiming a usually narrow-minded patriotic ideal into nothing but queer joy. It’s a smart, sexy, groovy commentary on this country’s patriotism, and there’s nothing more American than the freedom to subvert viewers’ expectations.