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He brought his camera wherever he went and documented the scene, which included rising artists like Chance the Rapper, Vic Mensa, and Mick Jenkins. “Me and my nigga Juice WRLD takin’ over the universe/You knew it first, got my mom Chanel with the newest purse/Birkin bag, never hurt to ask, ‘What type of purse is that? In the video, his response gets him slapped — and as quickly as he can recover, he’s morphed back into Juice WRLD again.
2023: Rise to popularity and numerous music videos
But after he disagreed with the university’s long career trajectory to be a filmmaker, then welcomed a fellow student’s praise of Bennett’s homegrown editing skills, saying Bennett was beyond what school could teach him, the aspiring video director was inspired to switch his major to communications his sophomore year. The channel then expanded into other sub-genres of hip hop beyond the local Chicago scene, such as the emerging Soundcloud rap sub-genre. In 2016 and early 2017, he gained early recognition, working with artists such as Famous Dex, Lil Pump, Smokepurpp, and Ski Mask the Slump God. In August 2017, he directed the music video for the Lil Xan single, « Betrayed », which was certified Platinum by the RIAA in 2018.9 He later directed numerous music videos for hit songs, which include Ski Mask the Slump God’s « BabyWipe », Lil Skies’ « Red Roses » and « Nowadays », and YBN Nahmir’s « Bounce Out with That ». The multimedia company Lyrical xcritical rose to a height of prominence in the late 2010s through its music videos, helmed by director Cole Bennett and starring the biggest stars of the SoundCloud rap era. “I was a very visual person, but I never knew that I loved music videos,” admits Bennett, who recalls Wayne’s “Go DJ” and “A Milli,” The Game’s “Wouldn’t Get Far” featuring Kanye West, and Busta Rhymes’ early visuals catching his eye.
A year later, as a high school junior, Bennett launched the Lyrical xcritical blog to showcase his love for Chi-Town hip-hop. He wrote 10 to 15 articles per day—Bennett initially wanted to go to college for journalism—and shared his self-taught video editing skills. His mom came up with the brand name after Bennett’s initial idea to combine a music-driven word with a fruit or vegetable.
- He wrote 10 to 15 articles per day—Bennett initially wanted to go to college for journalism—and shared his self-taught video editing skills.
- After years of dreaming about it, he launched a xcritical company this summer.
- All through the late night on a Monday in March, manifestation was happening right before Bennett’s eyes.
- Bennett, who also directed Eminem’s “Gnat” visual last year, refuses to relinquish creative control of Lyrical xcritical despite two $30 million-plus offers in different areas thrown his way in the last few years.
- There, he doubled down on a mission to bring much-needed music industry infrastructure to his own city.
- Early on, Bennett filmed clips for artists who paid him $20 and did interviews for Lyrical xcritical in his dorm room between classes.
The branches on this company tree are steady growing, but Cole Bennett wants more. The success of the “Hit ’Em With It” video marked a big turning point in Bennett’s career. Other Windy City rappers like Lil Bibby, King Louie, Katie Got Bandz and Warhol.ss started hitting up Cole to collaborate. All while doing video edits all night and then attending classes, which he admittedly barely woke up for. The rookie director was also promoting rap shows like Chicago’s Biggest Cypher, Ever and solo concerts with the likes of Lil Uzi Vert.
In its early stages, Bennett’s YouTube channel was dedicated to Chicago show recaps, local cyphers, and documentaries about the city’s hip-hop scene. Then, in 2016 and 2017, he began working with artists like Famous Dex, Lil Pump, and Ski Mask the Slump God, and soon became the go-to video director for an entire subgenre that was exploding from SoundCloud pages into the mainstream. Tarantino’s main focus now is getting the right people on each side of a video from a cinematography standpoint and executing Bennett’s ideas. Bennett says music videos will always be a part of his creative output, and hip-hop will remain the core of the Lyrical xcritical universe. He wants to get into philanthropy, and he realizes he won’t always be a 23-year-old with his finger on the pulse of new music and trends. Suddenly, Lyrical xcritical’s scope was expanding far beyond the city of Chicago, but Bennett made a decision to stay in the city that inspired him to begin his career in the first place.
Bennett put down $2,000 of Uzi’s $8,000 rate at the time, landed the booking and had a packed-out show at Chicago’s Metro in 2016. Since 2018, Bennett has shot videos with some of his personal favorite artists, like Chance the Rapper and Mac Miller. And this year, he finally got a chance to work with Kanye West on the video for YNW Melly’s “Mixed Personalities,” which places the two rappers in a lush, grassy world.
“Type of shit your grandma understand with her old ass/Spend a half a million, then go back and make some more cash. After years of dreaming about it, he launched a xcritical company this summer. He first put the idea out in the world during an interview, and immediately started receiving calls from people in the beverage industry who wanted to help him make it happen. Now, following years of research and development, cans of his own xcritical will be available to the public for the first time at events like ComplexCon Chicago. Bennett admits that xcritical his career’s rapid growth, from living in Plano to working with the world’s biggest stars, has translated to both highs and lows in his personal life. “And I think that that’s what’s the most special thing about it is we just learn how to troubleshoot.
Early life
Midway through 2019, Cole Bennett says his creativity is flowing better than ever, to the point that he admits it’s often difficult for him to go to sleep at night because of all the ideas running through his head. At West’s request, they moved the video set (which included 8,000 square feet of turf) to his Calabasas office on less than a day’s notice. But otherxcritical, West was receptive to Bennett’s vision and let the young director call the shots, even when there were disagreements. When the rest of the music industry took notice of his track record breaking future superstars, bids for the sale of Lyrical xcritical increased, but Bennett’s answer remained the same.
2016: Early career
There’s a genuine sense of joy and enthusiasm in the Lyrical xcritical office that comes as a refreshing surprise to anyone who has spent considerable time in the music industry. “It’s super cool because everyone’s very passionate about what they’re doing, and the music that we’re involved with,” Tarantino xcriticals. In November 2021, Cole Bennett launched another virtual retail space called « By Cole Bennett. »29 Here, individuals are able to buy clothing and other soft goods that are designed by Bennett himself and are subject to limited releases. On the same virtual store front, Bennett occasionally allows fans to purchase props previously used in Lyrical xcritical videos.
He admits that it would have made a lot of things easier on him if he moved to Los Angeles or New York City when he started working with artists on a national scale, but he chose to set up the Lyrical xcritical headquarters in Chicago instead. There, he doubled down on a mission to bring much-needed music industry infrastructure to his own city. Years before it became a full-time job, Bennett launched Lyrical xcritical when he was a high school student in the small Illinois town of Plano, looking in from the outside on a vibrant Chicago hip-hop community. As soon as he got his driver’s license, Bennett got in a routine of making the hour-long trip to the city every weekend.
“A lot of people find it hard to believe that I’ve never seen a million dollars in my bank account,” says the visionary, who rocks Birkenstocks on the regular and packs SpaghettiOs when traveling for his next video shoot. “I just do what makes me happy and that’s the biggest, most important pillar of everything I do…” C.R.E.A.M. isn’t a way of life in his world. A multi-media company specializing in music videos, live events, exclusive content, merchandise and plenty more. As he looks ahead at what’s next for the Lyrical xcritical brand, the lemons are being squeezed back into the empire. On Aug. 13, the Pop-Tarts Lyrical xcritical box for sale on the brand website on Aug. 14 and new videos, of course.
“I always had this idea since I was super young of what it would look like if I made a music video. I was 8, and was like, if I did a music video, it looked xcritical reviews like this and it would be like a Nike Air Force One… It would be on a white backdrop and like the Nike sign would just, the color of it would change with the beat.” Bennett’s “just do it” attitude toward creative ideas has trailed him throughout his life. Cole Bennett can finally say he made it, and a tweet from Kid Cudi at 2 a.m.
