Kendrick Lamar's Halftime Show at Super Bowl LIX on February 9, 2025 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana featured the hip-hop star in a performance designed by an all-star team including Mike Carson of pgLang, an independent multidisciplinary creative communications company headquartered in Los Angeles and founded by Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free, specializing in music and visual media production. They collaborated with Bruce Rodgers of Tribe, who has 19 Super Bowl Halftime Shows to his credit.
Carson chats with Live Design about the production design for the 15-minute show which attracted over 133 million viewers.
Live Design: Please talk a little about your role and the role of pgLang on the Halftime show?
Mike Carson: I was the co-creative director and co-production designer alongside Dave Free for pgLang for the halftime show. As pgLang, Kendrick and Dave Free's multidisciplinary company, we provided the overall creative concept, direction, and design for the performance. We collaborated with Tribe, Roc Nation, Jesse Collins Ent, and DPS on the execution of the performance.
LD: How did pgLang collaborate with Bruce Rodgers and Tribe on the production design?
MC: From the beginning of the ideation process, we were in constant communication with Bruce and Shelley at Tribe to make sure our ideas were feasible, given their extensive experience doing the halftime show. We talked pretty much every day since September. We would send our drawings, renders, and CADs to them, and they'd send back suggestions and drawings, and additional ideas on how to make the creative fit within the limited cart allotment, weight limits, safety, etc. while maintaining the artistic vision. It was a pleasure to collaborate with them!
LD: What was the aesthetic concept for the production design this year?
MC: The concept featured Kendrick and the cast within "The Great American Game," a video game-themed set designed to play on navigating the proposed "American Dream."
LD: When did your start working on the show this year, and what was the production timeline?
MC: We started working on the show internally in August, and in September, we started on the ground with all departments in New Orleans. From September to showtime, we worked with all departments daily.
LD: What are the major set pieces — what do they represent?
MC: The major set pieces were blocky concrete-look forms inspired by simple childlike and rudimentary shapes resembling video game buttons that doubled as stages for Kendrick, his special guests, and a cast of 400+. Each shape is it's own "stage" in the game, holding a specific meaning that we'll leave to the viewer to interpret. The overall aesthetic is driven and inspired by our continued live language at pgLang, rooted in LA street culture and blackness.
LD: How did you collaborate with the two lighting designers, Cory FitzGerald and Al Gurdon?
MC: Cory has been Kendrick's LD since 2017, so he understands the overall aesthetic and language of the Kendrick live brand. He's an integral part of our creative team and has also done several halftime shows, so it was a no-brainer. We worked with Cory initially to craft the lighting look and creative, which we then brought to Al, who welcomed our somewhat unconventional ideas with open arms. Our goal is to always lean more cinematic than "live," and we are grateful that Al, Cory, and their amazing team of programmers welcomed this challenge with open arms and executed it.
LD: How do you collaborate with All Access on the build?
MC: From V1 of the design, we shared CADs with Tribe and All Access to create cart studies and breakdowns to understand our proverbial sandbox. From there, as we ideated and designed, we would work in lockstep with All Access on plans of execution of this year's unique approach. From the width of the overall set to unique pieces such as the car gag and street lamps, All Access really brought the creative to life!
LD: Any specific challenges... How did you solve them?
MC: There are so many, haha! From a design standpoint, we wanted to ensure we filled the field, and I'm proud of the end approach, which took the expertise of all parties to make this happen. We were adamant about the concept of the shapes/grid, and with some clever pivoting, we were able to make that happen. Thank you to all of our incredible partners who brought this vision to life.
Live Design's Super Bowl LIX Apple Music Halftime Show coverage is sponsored by All Access.