Photo by Charles Sykes

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Back when Mayer Hawthorne covered Lorde's "Royals," he also recorded a funk-tinged version of Rihanna's "Stay."

"I love that song," he told Esquire. "I know it may be surprising for my fans to hear that, but I think that's one of the best pop songs that's been written in the past decade. I mean, I think it's just a great pop song. That one spoke to me."

Listen to Hawthorne's version of "Stay" below.