It received favourable reviews from music critics, who praised the catchy melody and named it "a radio success", but some others dismissed its title and Khalifa's appearance.

In the official music video directed by Samuel Bayer, Levine takes down bank robbers and attempts to become the hero in a hail of bullets as he makes his escape.

[6] The writing process started when Malik and Robopop constructed a piano line and demo track that Blanco compiled into a proper melody.

[6] Blanco also wanted to throw a wrench into the Maroon 5 works by adding hip-hop flavor to its sound, "I love when things don't make sense, like, 'Holy fuck!'

[1] In an interview with Rolling Stone, Blanco told that five minutes before Khalifa arrived at the studio, he prepared "the sound beds for the finger snap-driven portion of the jam".

[6] Shellback recorded "Payphone" at Conway Studios in Los Angeles alongside Noah "Mailbox" Pasovoy, while Eric Eylands served as the assistant engineer.

[15] Thomas Chau from AOL Radio Blog called the song "mellow" and compared it to the band's previous singles "She Will Be Loved" (2004) and "Won't Go Home Without You" (2007).

[20] Melinda Newman from HitFix wrote that the song "is a straight-ahead pop ditty, that, like everything else these days, seems to take a page from Bruno Mars' "Grenade" for its shiny, military-like precise beat that still manages to sound convincingly warm.

[23] Chris Payne from Billboard wrote that "The pop/R&B fling is far from a classic Maroon 5 cut, yet it serves as a testament to the band's continued rebranding and a reminder of how much the airwaves have changed since 'This Love' hit in 2004.

"[25] Fraser McAlpine from BBC Music criticized his voice, writing: "Adam Levine fires up that nasal yelp as soon as the song begins, and does not let up until the fadeout.

"[26] "Payphone is an alchemy of elemental pop-rock building blocks that conjures virile longing in the same corny-graceful way as past M5 hits like She Will Be Loved.

Levine's voice soars, the piano and guitar hit notes of bitter nostalgia, and for once the words' hurt feels real.

And whether by Pro-Tooled magic or old-fashioned sweat, the song also sounds remarkably like it was recorded in a studio by musicians who actually came together to play as a band — even if one of them was only dropping by on his way to the soundstage.

[29] On Pop Songs, the group made it to back-to-back toppers, as its last entry, "Moves Like Jagger," featuring Christina Aguilera, reigned for six weeks beginning in October 2011.

[41] It sold over 141,000 copies, which marks the third week in a row that the number one single broke the 100,000 barrier after Gary Barlow and Cheryl Cole.

According to the Official Charts Company, the song sold 725,000 copies in the United Kingdom in 2012, becoming Britain's ninth best-selling single of that year.

[44][45] Lead singer, Adam Levine was spotted shooting the video, making a call from a Los Angeles phone booth, fleeing from the police with model Bregje Heinen and speeding away in a classic sports car.

The video begins with a flash forward that starts with a beleaguered Levine torching his ride and dialing a telephone number at a payphone.

Another typical day at a Las Vegas (seen from the decals on the police cars) bank for Levine is shown next, which turns into chaos when some bandits enter and take charge (some of the bank robbers are played by the other members of the band: guitarist James Valentine, drummer Matt Flynn, bassist Mickey Madden and keyboardist, previously a touring Maroon 5 member, PJ Morton, when one robber says, "Get down on the floor!

When he finally reaches his destination in Los Angeles, he passes by a place where Khalifa, the owner of the car, performed his rap earlier.

News gave a positive review for the video, writing that "Adam Levine looks just as good as a buttoned-up bank employee as he does as a dirty, wounded fugitive trying to outrun the cops".

"[54] Rebecca Ford of The Hollywood Reporter gave a mixed review, writing: "Although it's fun to see such a big-budget clip from the band, the story line doesn't make complete sense.

The clip shows the main character, presumably frontman Levine, looking back on his relationship and heroically fighting monsters, rescuing old women from muggers, etc.

[58] On April 16, 2012, Maroon 5 and Wiz Khalifa performed "Payphone" for the first time on The Voice, a reality talent show, in which lead singer Adam Levine is one of the coaches.

[60] In June 2012, the band performed "Payphone" (with a medley of their song "Moves Like Jagger"), on The Voice UK[61] and Germany's Next Top Model.

On June 5, 2012, Maroon 5 performed "Payphone" on the French reality talk show, Le Grand Journal in Paris, France.