Mayer Hawthorne Gets Funky With Lorde's 'Royals'

Lorde's "Royals" has been stalking me these last couple of days, and I don't care -- I love it. A song that takes truthful jabs at the oversaturation of unattainable wealth while calling out the fantasy of hip-hop culture? Yes, thank you, more please. Not only that, but knocking ol' Miley Virus Cyrus out of the #1 Hot 100 spot making the 16-year-old New Zealander the youngest person in over 25 years to do so, has me on Team Lorde all the way. With a song so popular you're bound to come across a cover or two, and in "Royals" case there have been well, a gabillion covers out their in Internet Land. Of course I'd find the funkiest cover of the lot as Mayer Hawthorne's soul-ed out take caught my ear the other day and hasn't let go. Hawthorne changes the lyrics up a tiny bit and warms up the frosty truism of the original with his croons and back-up band, but that doesn't distract from that fact that he (in his words) "funks it out," making for a pretty solid cover that shows off the track's versatility extremely well. Take a peek after the bounce for an alternative spin on Lorde's big hit and see if you think Mr. Hawthorne does it justice.

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After the bounce