From the small town of Plano, Illinois, a teenager had a vision to express his works, ideas, and music videos to inspire the world. Cole Bennett is a 28-year-old, young video director, who started his multimillion-dollar company named Lyrical Lemonade. The brand took over the world with its eye-popping visuals and catchy name. The origin of the name is Bennett’s mother, who tried to give him an idea when he was first figuring out his vision for the company. Cole was randomly trying different names, and his mother said Lyrical Lemonade. Cole thought the name was ridiculous but later realized he could make it work.
In 2013, Cole Bennett knew that it would take a lot of determination and creativity to get his brand to the top. Cole would go to Chicago and film videos for underground artists every chance he could and upload them to his YouTube channel, Lyrical Lemonade, hoping to get his big break. After a year of filming music videos, his big breakout came when he collaborated with Famous Dex, an underground rapper from Englewood, Chicago. Bennett filmed a music video for his song, Hit Em With It, which garnered millions of views on YouTube in 2016. This song changed Lyrical Lemonade forever and made it a platform for underground rappers to get their talents out. On Twitter, Cole Bennett wrote, “A lot of people are successful right now because of the influence of Famous Dex. Thank you for helping lyrical lemonade become what it is, @FamousDex.”.
Due to the Famous Dex music video being a hit, Bennett could expand his channel from just outside of Chicago to all around the United States. Cole would collaborate with rappers in 2017 and 2018 such as Lil Pump, Lil Skies, Ski Mask the Slump God, and Juice WRLD. These rappers and many others would experience significant growth in their careers due to the music videos he created for their songs. His channel has received a lot of the world’s attention, especially the youth. Bennett’s goal is to inspire the youth with his music videos and various creative ideas. When asked about his message to the youth in an interview with TED, Bennett said, “You can really, truly do anything you put your mind to.”. Kiernan McElhoes, an upcoming artist from Detroit, Michigan, stated that “Lyrical Lemonade is a huge inspiration to me and influenced me as a rapper. It also gave me a lot of hope because it taught me that you have to be patient when it comes to music, and to make it, you always have to be creative.”
Cole Bennett would continue to make music videos for underground artists and would start to gain major brand deal sponsorships. Outside of just music videos, collaborations with Jordan Brand, the Chicago Bears, 7-Eleven, and Pop-Tarts also grew the platform. Music-wise, it was also taken to the next level. Cole Bennett’s work caught the eye of mainstream artists such as EMINEM, Kanye West, Drake, and Justin Bieber, who saw his work, thought it was something special, and wanted a music video made by the man himself.
Lyrical Lemonade in 2024 is now one of the most popular channels on YouTube, with 22.4 million subscribers and 11.6 billion views. The channel also just received its first billion-view video, “Lucid Dreams,” by Juice WRLD, this past summer. Bennett and Lyrical Lemonade are now letting the world know they are here to stay. In 2024, they might’ve just had their best summer yet. To start the summer, they had their now annual festival, the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash, where they had some of the most popular and upcoming artists perform in Cole’s hometown of Chicago. The main headliners were Playboi Carti, Travis Scott, and Chief Keef, who put on a sold-out show at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, IL. Lyrical Lemonade also collaborated with Universal Studios for their movie Despicable ME 4 by releasing two music videos for the movie. One is Lil Mega Minion by Lil Yachty and the other is None of Your Bussiness by Teezo Touchdown. Both gained over two million views in two months. Lastly, unsurprisingly, they released their lemonade drink called “Lyrical Lemonade.” You can find this drink in just about any gas station or convenience store. Cole Bennett went from falling asleep in high school classes to staying up late filming videos to hosting large-scale music festivals. Cole Bennett is a good role model for the youth because he inspires kids to go out and be creative and not worry about what others think. “Think deep, don’t sink—Cole Bennett.”
