NFL unveils the genius of Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl pop out in new documentary
BY Angelina Velasquez / 3.15.2025
Kendrick Lamar fans had no idea the amount of logistics that went into his record-breaking Super Bowl halftime show, but many understood that they were watching the greatness of Hip Hop. Now, the NFL is pulling back the veil to reveal how three and a half months of grueling preparation created the jaw-dropping moment that locked in 133.5 million viewers for 13 minutes and 21 seconds of must-see TV.
On Friday (March 14), the league released a 32-minute documentary showing the ins and outs of putting together the mini-concert, from stage design to behind-the-scenes footage of Lamar rehearsing to the big day, Feb. 9, as they prepared for a major pivot due to inclement weather that threatened to derail the pyrotechnics of the show minutes before go-time. An undetermined number of things could have gone wrong, but not a single misstep was made between the 500-person crew that mobilized to build all the elements in eight minutes.
Kendrick Lamar set a new standard for halftime shows
Veteran halftime creative director and production designer Bruce Rodgers has been a part of 19 shows, working with everyone from Prince, Rihanna and Beyoncé. Yet, in the inside look at Lamar and pgLang’s genius, he noted, “This literally will change the way you do halftime. We’ll have to have a full team building the square, same with the diamond, same with the circle.” The “Not Like Us” provocateur performed on multiple stages — the gray cloth-covered field and smaller sets designed as the circle, square, triangle and X buttons on a game controller — creating the illusion that a game was being played within the Super Bowl showdown between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.
Another integral part of the performance design was locating a 1987 Buick GNX, a feat that required a nationwide search. “The car is the icon of this era for him as far as album covers [GNX], in the video, so it was only right to have it as part of the performance,” said pgLang creative director Mike Carson. The classic, rare and popular vehicle was gutted to allow for 30 of the 400 dancers to pop out and flood the stage.