Kendrick Lamar Collaborators on Gutting a GNX and Making Halftime History: ‘It’s Showing His Journey’

Kendrick Lamar kept teasers about his Super Bowl LIX halftime show close to his chest in the days leading up to his history-making performance as the first rapper to perform at the game solo. But he did share a detail about the concept of the set that has become crucial to understanding what he delivered on the field on Sunday evening. “I’ve always been very open about storytelling through all my catalog and my history of music,” Lamar told Apple Music. “I’ve always had a passion about bringing that on whatever stage I’m on.”

In interviews with Wall Street Journal and Wired, the creative team behind the halftime show broke down their process of bringing the narrative Lamar created to life under restraints in both time and structure.

Mike Carson, who has worked with Lamar since 2021, served as co-creative director and production designer of the halftime performance. “You’re creating almost two shows,” he told WSJ about catering simultaneously to the tens of thousands in the audience at New Orleans’ Caesar Superdome and the millions watching from home and viewing parties. The separation between the experiences is evident in the difference in audience volume from the largely muted broadcast footage versus videos captured by attendees inside of the stadium — like during that “a minor” moment, for example.

“Not Like Us” might have been the most anticipated song of the set, but it was only one chapter of the broader story. Lamar faked the song out twice before finally giving his audience what they had been seething for. And even then, he had another song loaded up to close out the set: the high-energy “TV Off” performed with Mustard. The set heavily featured cuts from GNX, the album Lamar surprise-released in November. Despite being a source of criticism from some viewers who yearned to hear songs from earlier in his career, that was intentional, too.

“It wasn’t about playing the hits,” said pgLang co-founder Dave Free, who told WSJ the primary goal was to spark curiosity about Lamar. “The feel of it is Black America. What does Black America look like, and how to control that narrative of what it means to be Black in America versus what the world’s perspective of that is.” Plus, anyone wanting to hear “Alright” and “M.A.A.D City” can run back his appearance during the hip-hop-focused Super Bowl LVI halftime show.

Lamar added layers of context to the performance with the inclusion of Samuel L. Jackson’s Uncle Sam character — who chastised rap as an art form while the rapper defied those boundaries with each beat switch — and the subtle nod to the PlayStation console controller hidden in the design of his four stages. “I think the was symbolic, his way to reach young people,” art director Shelley Rodgers told Wired. “A lot of it is showing his journey, traveling through the American dream.”

During “TV Off,” Lamar ramped up to the grand finale he planned months earlier, rapping: “Walk in New Orleans with the etiquette of L.A., yellin’ Mustard.” California was an integral element of his Super Bowl storytelling, just as it was for GNX. In fact, the vintage GNX that the rapper began his set standing on top of while an endless stream of dancers popped out of its doors like a clown car was sourced from a dealership in Southern California.

“That car was not easy to find, especially since he dropped his album,” Rodgers said. “We could have just used his, but I don’t know that he would’ve liked it after.” (The interior was gutted, removing any driving capability). There were also complications in loading the set only the field, car and all, which has under 10 feet of clearance space at the one tunnel the stadium has leading into the area. The stages were driven to New Orleans from Southern California in 25 trucks, according to Wired.

It took a crew of more than 1,000 people to pull it all off, WSJ reports. That includes more than 100 dancers choreographed by Charm La’Donna, with Lamar himself at the center. “We wanted this performance to have a cinematic and theatrical element to it,” Free said. “We can confidently say that there’s no Super Bowl performance that’s quite like this one.”