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Cole Bennett started Lyrical Lemonade as an internet blog about hip hop music back in 2013 when he was still attending Plano High School in Illinois. Speaking of high school, my high school classmate Chris Patrick just did an interview for Lyrical Lemonade in August of this year.
Go check him out.
Anyway, these days, Lyrical Lemonade is one of the biggest hip hop media brands on the planet. Their content includes tour date announcements, live show recaps, music video productions, artist interviews and bios, cyphers, and so much more. If you’re a fan of modern hip hop, you’ve definitely heard of Lyrical Lemonade.
Bennett, who’s now worth over $2 million, owes a great deal of his success to his mother who came up with the name of the blog and bought Bennett his first video camera. Not long after, he was directing music videos for local Chicago artists like Vic Mensa and Taylor Bennett. And while Lyrical Lemonade originally only focused on the Chicago hip hop scene, Bennett soon expanded the brand to include other sub-genres such as Soundcloud rap and punk-rap. Since his brand has become wildly successful, Bennett has worked with mainstream hip hop legends like Eminem, J. Cole, Wiz Khalifa, and Kanye West.
One of the reasons Cole Bennett became so wildly successful so quickly was his visionary and creative music video directing style. Bennett is notorious for his videos being over-the-top with absurdist concepts, slapstick special effects, funny wardrobe choices, and general insanity.
So, if you plan on having a party and you have your Chromecast hooked up to your television, toss on some Cole Bennett music videos to get people moving. But there’s a lot of videos on the Lyrical Lemonade YouTube channel, so here are a few favorites to get you started.
Mixed Personalities by YNW Melly (ft. Kanye West)
Aside from “Mixed Personalities” being pure autotuned bliss, the video for the song is quintessentially Cole Bennett. The video opens with YNW Melly sitting at a desk in a room with white walls and what looks like an astroturfed floor. Why is the floor astroturfed? I have no earthly idea. Sitting at the desks surrounding YNW Melly are a bunch of androids and a sylvan goddess with three heads.
At a certain point, the androids stand up and start moving around. Some of them are dancing, some of them appear to be having heart-to-heart conversations, and some of them are doing push-ups. It all makes negative sense and that’s what we love about it.
Robbery by Juice WRLD
Cole Bennett and the late-and-great Juice WRLD have collaborated to make a lot of stellar videos, but the title of my favorite has to go to “Robbery” because it’s the most visually stimulating and conceptually interesting (in my opinion).
The video features Juice in a blacked-out suit, apparently attending a wedding in which the pastor looks like a member of Bowling for Soup or Sum 41 or some band like that.
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Juice WRLD is stumbling around the wedding with a bottle of Hennessy while smoking a cigarette. He then drops the cigarette in an old woman’s bouquet and it catches on fire, which then ignites the rest of the wedding. A wasted Juice WRLD escapes in a taxi and rides off.
I’m Paid by Famous Dex
A lot of the time, the themes of Cole Bennett’s videos are difficult to decipher. The video for “I’m Paid” by Famous Dex has a very distinct theme: hundred-dollar bills and sandwich franchise restaurants. Why? Well, why not? The video opens up with Dex walking around the streets of a city and flaunting stacks of Ben Franks.
Now, here’s where things start to break down logically. For some reason, Dex is walking around the streets staring at a Macbook. Maybe he’s checking his email, but I doubt it. And, at first, he’s standing in front of a Jimmy John’s. Of course, that’s a fine establishment to get a mediocre sandwich in. Does it have any place in a rap video? Apparently, it does.
Fast forward a few minutes and Dex is now in front of a Jersey Mike’s. The question of which sandwich chain he prefers is never answered throughout the video, but I feel like I need to know.
Blueberry Faygo by Lil Mosey
The video for “Blueberry Faygo” by Lil Mosey is more on par with your traditional rap video than many of Cole Bennett’s other productions. You’ve got some women in a pool in tight-fitting swimsuits, people partying, and lots of jewelry. The reason that this video is so great is that it’s just pure visual ecstasy. The color scheme is just lovely with all the different shades of blue and yellow peppered throughout the production.
One of my favorite shots is when Lil Mosey is lying down and rapping on top of an endless pile of blue balloons. I do have one question, though. Why is the mascot in the “Blueberry Faygo” video a guy in a lemon costume? Shouldn’t it be a guy in a blueberry suit?
Despite this logical breakdown, this video is still an amazing aesthetic achievement that proves Cole Bennett isn’t just about gimmicks; he’s also got some serious technical skill when it comes to videography.
Lemonade by Internet Money (ft. Don Toliver, Gunna, & Nav)
The fact that “Lemonade” is undoubtedly one of the hottest songs to come out in 2020 aside, this video is just a true work of art on its own. The little girl at the beginning with the blue hair and the yellow-painted skin is just terrifying, specifically when she smiles and pours the lemonade into the fishbowl. Zoom into that same fishbowl and you find one of the most incredible collections of rappers ever assembled in the last few years spitting over a beat that’s pure auditory gold.
The fact that the whole video is literally taking place in lemonade is amazing. The drop-top classic car with no wheels is amazing. The mermaid sitting on top of that classic car is amazing. The sharks swimming around in the background are amazing. What more can I say? This video is absolutely perfect. Plus, I could listen to “Lemonade” on repeat for the remainder of my natural life and never get tired of it.
HBS by Lil Keed
Naturally, no list of the best Cole Bennett videos would be complete without including “HBS” by Lil Keed, and it only takes a few seconds into the video to see exactly why. Lil Keed’s face, rocking sunglasses and a massive chain, atop a baby’s body. If that doesn’t make you laugh then you need to get your funny bone checked.
Considering the fact that “HBS” stands for “hood baby shit,” this video concept just makes a ton of sense. And the execution was absolutely flawless. Is this my favorite song? No. Will I listen to it anyway just to watch this completely absurd video? You bet.
