Background
Who wrote the song "Payphone"?
Payphone (song)
The song was written by Maroon 5's lead singer Adam Levine, along with Ammar Malik, Robopop, Benny Blanco, Shellback, and Wiz Khalifa, while production was helmed by Blanco and Shellback. Levine, Blanco, Shellback, and Malik also wrote the band's previous single "Moves Like Jagger". The writing process started when Blanco, Robopop, and Malik convened together in the studio; Malik and Robopop constructed a piano line and demo track that Blanco compiled into a proper melody. Then, it was given to Levine who wrote the lyrics. Meanwhile, Blanco recalled rapper Wiz Khalifa with an idea to throw a wrench into the Maroon 5 works by adding hip-hop flavor to the its sound, "I love when things don't make sense, like, 'Holy fuck!' You don't hear him on the song at all. I like when bands dip into a whole different genre." Wiz Khalifa wrote and rapped his verse on "Payphone". 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". However, producer Max Martin, who was the executive producer of "Overexposed", adjusted the chorus, because he felt it should be a "little different". "Payphone" was recorded at Conway Studios in Los Angeles by Noah "Mailbox" Pasovoy and Shellback, while Eric Eylands served as the assistant engineer. John Hanes mixed the song at Mixstar Studios in Virginia Beach and Phil Seaford was the mixing assistant. The programming, additional bass, keys, acoustic guitars and the background vocals were provided by Shellback and Blanco. Jeremy "Jbogs" Levin and David "D Silb" Silberstein served as production coordinators. Khalifa appears as courtesy of Rostrum Records. "Payphone" was released as a lead single from "Overexposed". On April 17, 2012, it was digitally released in most territories. A&M/Octone Records serviced the song to contemporary hit radio in the United States on April 24. A CD single containing the album version of the song together with a Thomas Penton/Barry Huffine remix was released on June 8 in Germany.